Ritual Committee
Meet Rabbinic Fellow Philip Ohriner
Congregation Beth Israel has been selected to participate in the Legacy Heritage Rabbinic Fellows Program through the Jewish Theological Seminary for a second year. Our intern for the 2009-2010 academic year will be Philip Ohriner. Originally from Knoxville, Tennessee, Philip spent his college years in Bloomington, Indiana, and served as a rabbinic intern for one summer in South Bend, Indiana. In his introduction to the congregation, Philip writes:
The Legacy Heritage Foundation has provided all of us a unique opportunity to work closely together over the next year and has given us a chance to learn from one another. As we build our relationship and begin our work together, I hope all of you will share your thoughts, feelings, and constructive criticism with me. I will try to do the same. Our journey together through the upcoming year will begin in earnest after the High Holydays.
My wife Shoshana, son Ari, and I look forward to being with you for the holidays at the end of Sukkot, including Simchat Torah, and I am working with the Board of Directors to finalize the schedule for the rest of my visits. While the physical time we spend together is limited to ten visits throughout the year, I hope we can maximize the time we do have to be together in learning, praying, and socializing. I am also committed to maintaining our connection to one another between visits through electronic Torah thoughts, articles in the newsletter, and personal communication over email and the phone. I look forward to embarking on our journey together.
Philip will be with us on the following weekends: January 8-10; January 29-February 1 (Tu B’Shevat); February 12-14; April 9-11; and April 23-25.
This is a wonderful opportunity for CBI and we encourage you to participate in these special weekends. The more participation we have, the more successful this fellowship will be for our congregation and for Philip.