ari

I am excited and thankful to be joining t^T /hk the Adat Shalom family. This is a community that epitomizes what I love about Judaism -warmth and welcoming, Torah, learning, and a passion for mitzvot. I look forward to meeting you all and hearing your stories. I feel blessed that my life's path has led me to you.

I was raised in Pensacola, Florida, a small town on the panhandle. The Jewish community there is even smaller, but passionate. I have fond memories of teaching my elementary school classmates how to play dreidel as they made Christmas ornaments. I have always been proud of my Jewish heritage.

That pride brought me to spend seven summers at Camp Raman in New England. It was there that I began to realize the power of a religious community and my desire for learning.

My family moved to Atlanta when I was thirteen. I found that no matter where I was, the Jewish community always felt like home. When I started high school, I became about as involved as one can be in USY. The experiences I had in USY were formative to my connection with our tradition.

I loved USY so much, that I chose the University of Florida for my undergraduate degree because of the Jewish community there. Even though I graduated with majors in Political Science and Jewish Studies, my father jokes that I should have had "Hillel" on my diploma.

My sophomore year of college, during the Amidah on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, I suddenly felt with conviction that my path was leading me towards service to God and the Jewish people, leading me towards the rabbinate.

All of my experiences since that moment have confirmed that conviction. I consider it an incredible blessing to feel with certainty that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing.

I am entering my 4th out of 5 years at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies. I have been proud to call Rabbi Peretz my mentor for these past years and am proud to join her at Adat Shalom now. I am returning from a year studying in Israel, soaking in the beauty of our shared home.

All of my great blessings together do not equal the blessing of my beautiful wife, Emily. We met our freshman year at a Koach Kallah in Chicago. Since that weekend she has been a constant source of happiness for me. We share the same passion for Judaism - every day I learn about Torah and God from her. She completed her Masters in experiential education a year ago.

With great help from and gratitude to God, the ultimate Creator, we will be parents of twin girls soon.

We are very excited to join the Adat Shalom family this year and we look forward to learning much Torah together.