Jonah

Father’s Day. A good time in this series, “Ten Years Later,” to pause and, for a moment, to let your father’s voice come through.

It’s my tenth Father’s Day without you. Yuk. Talk about your stark reminder of what’s missing, of who’s missing. I don’t know why but it continues to surprise me, that this hole in my heart is a forever thing. The yearning to see you again, to speak with you again, to hold you again, these all quiet but they don’t cease. And so, as it must be, I remain vigilant in my determination to carry on, to live a good life even though you’re not in it and, right alongside that, to accept (and even embrace) those moments when things can’t just “carry on” because it still hurts that you’re gone.

Meet Rabbi Jennifer Gubitz.

Jen serves as a rabbi at Temple Israel of Boston where she runs the Riverway Project, whose mission is to connect 20s and 30s to Judaism and to each other. She is a proud product of Indiana University’s Borns Jewish Studies Program and URJ Goldman Union Camp (GUCI). In 2005, she was co-songleader at URJ Kutz Camp with Chana Rothman where they had the pleasure of knowing Jonah Dreskin. Jen lives in Boston with her partner Matan.

Meet Amanda Battaglia.

Having just wrapped up her time working for URJ Youth in New York, Amanda is a soon-to-be graduate student at the University of San Diego studying Social Innovation. Amanda is an alum of NFTY NAR, Kutz Camp, and University of Virginia.

Meet Lexi Milford.

Lexi lives in Queens, NY. In her spare time, she illustrates on commission and works on personal projects, practices guitar, brews beer, hikes and camps and goes on bike tours. She loves cooking, coming up with new recipes and sharing a good meal with friends. In the last year, she and her partner went on a statewide bike tour, cycling from NYC to Buffalo. Lexi’s future aspirations involve moving her career to align moreso with her passions and interests. She hopes to continue going on bike tours, aiming to someday cycle across the United States and across other countries.

Meet Cantor Tamara Wolfson.

Tamara was born and raised in New York where from an early age she fell in love with music, theatre, and Judaism. After receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in Jewish Studies from American Jewish University in Los Angeles, Tamara began her cantorial studies at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. After her ordination in May 2018, Tamara moved to London and began serving as Cantor of Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue and as Spiritual Leader of Kehillah North London. She is the first female cantor in the Liberal movement in the U.K. and is a proud member of both the American Conference of Cantors and the Conference of Liberal Rabbis and Cantors.