For The Love of a Rabbi

So yesterday I pick Aidan up at school and he tells me all about his day. And like all Fridays, he tells me all about the songs they sang and the bread they ate for Shabbat. He really loves their Friday Shabbat rituals and has often told me all about the goings on. But yesterday was full of complaints of the cutest kind.

First he said "today's Shabbat was little." Then he clarified, "The Rabbi was gone. She was on vacation but now she's on a trip someplace in Kentucky talking to families. So, she was gone. And Ms. Susan sang the songs with us and it wasn't very long." And then we talked for a long time about how much he loves the Rabbi and how he misses her when she's not there. I told him he should tell her that he misses her, but he's pretty shy about those types of things and I'm guessing he won't do it.

I have to say that I'm very happy and proud that he has such a strong female role model. I mean, how much more of a leader can you have than a religious leader? Regardless of all the other religions he'll be exposed to in the future, now he knows a female can be a religious leader. He's seen it in the synagogue and he's seen it at the Unitarian church.

It's a given that he'll have plenty of strong male role models throughout his life, especially in West Texas. But a strong female leader is harder to find. Minority leaders even harder to find, but that will take a little more effort to incorporate into his life. Looking at the current state of the country and the diversity of the presidential hopefuls gives me hope as well. Maybe we're becoming more inclusive in our "melting pot." And maybe we'll be able to raise a child who sees no boundaries based on gender, race, or religious affiliation. A far cry from the generation in which his parents were brought up.