Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 100, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 17, 2008 Page: 3 of 28
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Page 3
Jewish Herald-Voice
July 17, 2008
Up Close
Rabbi mom
By ILYSE COHEN
A rabbi has many differ-
ent titles - teacher, leader,
sage — but only recently
has the title of mother been
added.
For centuries, only men
were rabbis. Women rabbis
are a relatively new phe-
nomenon - the nation’s first
female rabbi, Rabbi Sally
Priesand, was ordained in
1972 at the Reform move-
ment’s Hebrew Union
DAVID, RABBI ADRIENNE and BERYT SCOTT
College. Today, nearly 1,000
women have become rabbis. As more
and more females become rabbis,
they have to learn to juggle mother-
hood with their rabbinical duties.
One such rabbi is Houston’s Rabbi
ent ways than male rabbis can - in
terms of juggling and of body image
and things like that,” Rabbi Scott
pointed out.
Rabbi Scott took 12 weeks of
Adrienne Scott of Congregation Beth
Israel. She became a mother on Feb.
18, 2008, with the birth of daughter,
Beryt Jessica Scott.
Rabbi Scott and her husband,
David Scott, have been married for
six years. Before earning the title of
mom, Rabbi Scott wanted to have
the opportunity to study to become a
rabbi and then help lead a congrega-
tion. “I wanted to have that experi-
ence without having children, so that
I could be 100 percent fully immersed
in the congregation,” she explained.
The rabbi is very happy with the
two-and-a-half years she had as her
“own free agent,” as she phrased it.
“I could say ‘yes’ to do whatever I
wanted, and David was very under-
standing and encouraged me to par-
ticipate,” she said. Waiting a few years
to have children allowed Rabbi Scott
to establish herself as a rabbi in the
Houston community, she noted.
Joining motherhood ranks
Rabbi Scott has joined a growing
number of Reform and Conservative
pulpit rabbis wTio have become
“rabbi moms,” and who thus have
changed the face of the rabbinate.
Along with the Scotts, Rabbi Pamela
Silk of Congregation Emanu El and
husband, Jeff Silk, became parents of
a son, JJ, in 2006.
“Now you are a mother and it
actually is very helpful, because you
can relate to people in much differ-
maternity leave. During that time,
she remained connected to the con-
gregation via email and phone, and
attended synagogue events, not in
the capacity of a rabbi, but as a
congregant. Maternity leave afforded
Rabbi Scott time to make a smooth
transition to rabbinical motherhood.
She resumed her obligations at Beth
Israel earlier this summer - “a good
time,” she indicated, as the summer
months are less hectic, “I was really
excited to come back.”
One of the greatest challenges of
being a new mom and a rabbi is time
management, the rabbi explained. “I
have to be really careful with my
schedule, which is challenging . . .
because a lot of things come up,
spur of the moment,” both as a rabbi
and as a mom, she said. While at
the synagogue, the rabbi maximizes
her time, so that she doesn’t have to
bring work home in the evenings.
“Beryt is really the first priority.
You realize as a mother, you have a
lot of first priorities and do your best
every day to divide your time equally
between all of them,” she explained.
“You have to come to terms with the
fact that you lose a little bit of con-
trol; that your life isn’t really your
own anymore; that you have a much
more important job.”
Balancing act
Because of her profession, Rabbi
Scott has learned to be a multitasker
Volume C - Number 14
THE JEWISH HERALD-VOICE
(ISSN 0021-6488) Published weekly
- Plus Wedding, Passover, Voices in
Houston, Rosh Hashanah and Bar/
Bat Mitzvah editions - by Herald
Publishing Co., 3403 Audley St.,
Houston, TX 77098, Copyright 2008,
with all rights reserved. Reproduction
or use without permission of edito-
rial or graphic content in any man-
ner is prohibited. Periodicals Postage
Paid at Houston, Texas. Subscription
rates: USA $105 for 3 years; $40.00
per year; 9 months @ $30. Foreign
subscriptions upcharged with inter-
national first-class postage. Single
copies by mail: PREPAID $1.50.
Back issues by mail PREPAID $3.
Postmaster: send address changes
to: Jewish Herald-Voice, P.O. Box
153, Houston, Texas 77001-0153.
Table of Contents
Arts and Entertainment...............................22
Business.......................................................12
Classified Shopper......................................26
Community...................................................15
Community Calendar..................................13
Food and Dining.................... 20
Health............................................................11
In other words................................................9
Kids and Camps..........................................18
Nation..................................... ...5
Obituaries....................................................24
Opinion and Editorial....................................8
Simchas........................... 19
Singles Happenings....................................23
Sports...........................................................11
Synagogue Services...................... 14
Teens............................................. .18
Up Close.........................................................2
Upcoming................ 14
World.................. 6
- and now, even more so, with a new
baby. “It’s really nice to be a mom
and not just a rabbi, or a wife, or a
daughter or a sister,” she reflected.
“Now, I have the privilege of being a
mother. I can’t get too self-absorbed
with my own problems. . . . Beryt is
the most important thing. As long
as she is happy and doing well, then
everything is good.”
For Rabbi Scott, being a mom is
a never-ending job, requiring a lot of
hard work. “It has certainly been a
challenge; it’s also been so exciting.
It’s amazing to see how fast [Beryt]
has changed. Now she knows who we
are and can smile; she’s really devel-
oping her own personality, which is
just amazing,” she pointed out.
With a new baby, the young rabbi
also has worked hard at keeping her
marriage healthy and balanced, and
both mom and dad share the respon-
sibilities of taking care of the baby.
In addition to the Scotts, Beryt
also was born into the Beth Israel
family. Now that she’s 5 months old,
Beryt accompanies David to weekly
Shabbat services; fortunately, she’s
a good sleeper. Rabbi Scott said she
and David want to introduce their
daughter to Judaism and synagogue
life at a young age, and want her to
feel comfortable at her second home.
* * *
Ilyse Cohen will be a senior at
Clements High School in Sugar
Land for the 2008-’09 school year.
She is interning with the JH-V this
summer. □
Jewish War Vets to
install officers on July 27
All Jewish veterans, families and
friends are invited to the annual
installation of officers of Houston-
Levy Post 574, Jewish War Veterans
of the USA, on July 27, 2008, at the
Silver Palace Chinese Restaurant,
4005-H Bellaire Blvd.
The installation will be preceded
by a buffet dinner from 5:30 p.m. to
6:30 p.m. at a cost of $10 per person,
payable in advance; RSVP required to
JWV Post 574, P.O. Box 31415, Houston,
TX, 77231, or by phone at 713-682-1003.
The dinner will be free to new mem-
bers. The installation of officers will
take place from 7:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.
The event will feature a presenta-
tion by former Army specialist, John
McClimens, a decorated veteran of
the Iraq War.
The Jewish War Veterans, founded
in 1896, is the nation’s oldest con-
tinuously active veterans organiza-
tion consisting of military veterans.
Houston-Levy Post 574, founded in
1946, is named in memory of Moises
Levy, who attended to the wounds of
General Sam Houston after the Battle
of San Jacinto, April 21, 1836.
For information, contact Post 574
commander, Jim McClain, at 713-
682-1003. □
Business Insurance Group
A division of Insgroup, Inc.
Acting faster, Thinking smarter
and Working harder
Commercial Insurance
♦
Employee Benefits
♦
Personal Insurance
Jay E. Gerstenhaber Brian J. Kapiloff
E. Henry Hochman David P. Kapiloff
Philip B. Wise
For ideas on how to improve yoorcurrent programi, call today!
1455 West Loop South, 9th Floor ♦ Houston, Texas 77027
713-54U7272 | www.insgroup.net
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View two places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Samuels, Jeanne F. Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 100, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 17, 2008, newspaper, July 17, 2008; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth543956/m1/3/?q=wichita+falls: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .