Jamie Field attended rabbinical school student at Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion. After graduating from BU in 2017 with a major in Religion and minors in Jewish Studies and Hebrew, she moved to Washington D.C to work as a Jewish educator before beginning rabbinical school. She moved to Jerusalem for the 2019-2020 school year and has since returned to finish the rest of her education stateside in New York. She is currently the rabbinical intern at the Community Synagogue of Rye.
“On September 6, I found myself in High Point, North Carolina. The year before, I had never been to North Carolina, yet, there I was, standing on the bimah of a congregation I had never been to before preparing to lead Erev Rosh HaShana services. It was the beginning of my third year as a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion. I barely felt like a third year- we had only had a few weeks of classes before the holidays began this year. And still, as I put on my tallit and prepared to begin services with a sense of sacred responsibility, I felt surprisingly calm. I knew that all of the education and training I have had prepared me.
I entered BU in the fall of 2013 with the plan of being a doctor. Coming from Los Angeles, I was hit hard as the weather changed in the fall, I became sick, and, after lots of thinking and phone calls home, I realized that I was not on the right path. There was something in me that always knew I was meant to be a rabbi. And so, I switched my major to religion with minors in Jewish Studies and Hebrew, and discovered a new home at the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies.
In my 3 and a half semesters as a religion major, I took classes that challenged my relationship with text (like Rabbinic Literature with Professor Jonathan Klawans), forced me to examine my relationship with Israel (like Holy City: Jerusalem in Time, Space, and the Imagination with Professor Michael Zank) and allowed me to explore how Judaism is perceived in modernity (like Israeli Cinema with Professor Abigail Gillman). I learned more than just texts and facts in these classes. These classes helped me critically think about my perception of Judaism, and find where Jewish texts intertwined with my life. I met with my professors after class to discuss my path to rabbinical school, to ask them for help where I felt stuck in my learning, and to figure out how to make the most of my time at BU. Minoring in Jewish studies helped me grow and prepared me for rabbinical school.
I am so grateful for the opportunities I had as a Jewish Studies student. I went to amazing speakers and events (seriously- take advantage of all of these!) and had the opportunity to learn from amazing professors- both in the classroom and in office hours. They helped to shape my college experience and guide my path towards the rabbinate. In Pirkei Avot 1 we read that “Moses received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly.” In this text, we read of the chain of tradition, how knowledge of both the written and Oral Torah was passed from generation to generation. As a student at the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies, I found myself as a link in this chain, which has allowed me to pass the knowledge I have learned from my professors to my community on and off the bimah.” – Jamie Field