Tumor Humor and the Fifth Dimension: Becoming a Rabbi . V, OO

Hello everyone,

The years were flying by... Raising our daughter Karen was a delight! Al convinced me to have only One Child, to which I gladly agreed... I made sure, our daughter would always have friends playing at our house, having sleep overs and swimming in the pool... At times, one of her friends would join us, on one of our family vacations... Our home was always full with her friends and eventually, her 'Boy friends' ... She traveled with us to visit our family members and friends,who lived in the East Coast of the U.S and several times to Europe and with me to visit the family in Israel...

Time was flying by... Al and I enjoyed raising our one and only child; our home became a center for most of her friends, who were happy to take a break from their their annoying siblings at home... Having only one child, we truly enjoyed having her friends at our home, which was always full of happy, laughing kids... The years were flying by; School, High school and Summer Camps, parties, boy friends, heart breaks, dramas and tears...With lot's of fun and laughter in between... Karen, was having a hard time deciding, which university to go to; In or out of L.A, maybe N.Y maybe a year at Tel Aviv University in Israel; There were so many choices...

At one point, we were invited by close friends, to celebrate the traditional Friday night, candle Lighting Ceremony, in their Reform Synagogue, for their son's "Bar Mitzava" (Turning Thirteen years old) It was a Reform Synagogue and to our astonishment, the person who walked to the Pulpit, wearing the traditional robe of a Rabbi: Was a Woman... We had no idea that women, were being ordained as Rabbis! It was a big "Ah Ha!" Moment! Karen and I looked into each others eyes and said:"Zehu-ze!"(Hebrew for 'This Is it!') What a prefect profession this would be for her, on so many levels...

We would later find out, that there were only a hundred and fifty Women Rabbis, practicing in the U.S The requirement for receiving a Rabbinical Degree, were six years of studies after B.A. "We always told you, that as long as you are in school, we will pay all your expenses..." Al was joking with Karen. "But we didn't realized that you will Never Stop Studying..."

After successfully passing the necessary exams, Karen was accepted for the Reform Rabbinical School in N.Y. However, since she missed the registration for the up coming year, she would have to wait one more year, before joining the new class...Karen used this 'unexpected break', to visit our family and friends in Israel and then flew to London, to visit some friends. While waiting for her flight back to L.A, she met Mark, a handsome young man from New Zealand, who was on his way home from England and was going to change planes in Los Angeles...

Karen and Mark waited together for several hours, at London's Air Port and managed to sit next to each other on the long flight to L.A... Since Mark flight home, was not due for the next ten hours, she invited her new friend to our home, taking him to several Tourist Attractions in L.A. and finally, back to the Air Port, to take his flight home to New Zealand... By Then; the two of them were In Love...

After Mark left, the two of them were talking on the phone for hours, getting to know each other and accumulating enormous phone bills... Mark came back to LA and three months later, Karen flew to meet his family... Her 'New love', was about to move to Australia, in order to start his Ph.D program and since Karen needed to wait another year, for her Rabbinical school in N.Y, she decided to move to Australia for the meantime and was able to find a job, as a Hebrew School teacher, at one of Sydney's Jewish schools... Karen and Mark, who were in love, began to talk about the possibility getting married...


With Mark from New Zealand	Sidney Australia	" A new teacher..."	Formal school photo


Karen and girls students	With boys students	Teaching meditation to her classes	With Paul from Australia

After four months of being together, the two of them separated... Paul, the principal of the Hebrew school, where Karen was teaching, rushed to take his place... Once again, Al and I had a visit from a new Candidate "Son in law", who came from Australia to meet us. However, Karen wouldn't give up her plan of becoming a Rabbi, which would take six years to complete, nor would Paul leave behind his career in Australia and the two of them parted company...

Six years later, after spending the required first year of her Rabbinical Studies in Israel, the" Four Musketeers" (Harriet, Marco, Al and myself) flew to N.Y, in order to celebrate Karen's graduation from Hebrew Union Collage; the Rabbinical school in Manhattan... After the ceremony, Al and I hosted a dinner party at the Pier Hotel, near Central Park, for her new and old friends, Al's family and our friends from New Jersey... Everyone was very excited, to attend such an Unusual Party as"Ordination of a Rabbi" especially a 'Woman Rabbi'...The truth is, that it took some time for Al and me, to get used to this news...