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BETH SHOLOM TEMPLE
Devorah Lynn
Rabbi Devorah Lynn was just 8 years old she decided she wanted a rabbinic career.
The only problem was that, at the time, women were not being ordained.
By the time Lynn, a D.C. native whose family attended the Conservative Tifereth Israel Congregation, attended the University of Maryland, she was becoming more secular and her dream no longer mattered.
Everything changed when she and her husband moved to Boston with their three kids. There, they attended services at Temple Beth David of the South Shore, led by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein.
She was one of the first women rabbis Lynn had ever met. "That really inspired me. She became my role model and I studied with her," said the 55-year-old rabbi of the Reform Beth Sholom Temple in Fredericksburg.
Lynn became a para-rabbi, which she describes as similar to what a paralegal is to a lawyer, after a two-week training camp with the Union for Reform Judaism. When her husband, Fred Lipschultz, got a job in Bermuda as an oceanographer in 1990, Lynn served as the lay leader of the Jewish community. The position was part-time, and she also worked as an elder hostel coordinator and taught snorkeling to senior citizens.
As a 50th birthday gift to herself, Lynn enrolled in rabbinical school at the Hebrew Union College, and was eager to accept her first job as an ordained rabbi at Beth Sholom Temple in July.
Lynn explained that her age is an important aspect of her journey.
"Although it was a long time to wait [to become a rabbi], I actually appreciate the wait. I have so much more experience than if I had gone straight to rabbinical school," she said.
Asked how her new job compares to her job in Bermuda, she laughed and replied, "There is no beach for tashlich," the Rosh Hashanah practice of symbolically tossing one's sins into the water.
"Having a sanctuary and a permanent place is very important to me. I've been wandering for quite some time now," Lynn answered on a more serious note. In Bermuda, congregants met in individual homes or rented space.
Lynn is upbeat about her new job.
"I hope to bring an enthusiasm for Judaism for all aspects...