Hear Our Voice

Good afternoon! Today I had the incredible pleasure of attending the ADL’s Walter Kase Educator Excellence Award event at the Holocaust Museum Houston.  For details on the award and the three awardees, check out this great article from the Jewish Herald Voice.  But, I am dedicating today’s blog to one of those educators of excellence: Rabbi Laura Sheinkopf! 

As most of you know, Rabbi Laura is much more than CSK’s part-time associate Rabbi. Most of her professional dedication is committed to the high school students of the Emery/Weiner school, in her capacity as Teacher and the Director of Jewish Life.  Amongst many of her responsibilities and creations is a very special program called, “Senior Sippur (story),” in which EWS seniors can choose to tell their story - ones that are driven by their own self-discovery, the overcoming of challenges, and the recognition of their strengths, in the pursuit of passionate self-expression.  It’s a remarkable program for which she was especially recognized today. It’s a very moving and meaningful experience to be a student who has created and prepared for this unique presentation before your peers; it is also a cause for great pride and the investment of time and love from their dear mentor, Rabbi Laura. So much so, that Rabbi Laura couldn’t share a good portion of her speech for fear of falling apart on the stage this afternoon. So here it is: the full text of Rabbi Laura’s speech in response to receiving the Walter Kase Educator Excellence Award. I encourage you to read it and then share your thoughts with her.

Thank you, Juliette, for that beautiful introduction. You are not only brilliant and talented, but your kindness has become legendary at our school, and your words and gestures of support have inspired all of us all to be better. I think I just want to be you when I grow up.

I also want to thank the ADL for this honor and for all the work you do in our communities and schools. You have long understood that antisemitism may begin with Jews, but it never ends with us. As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said, "A world without room for Jews is a world that has no room for difference—and a world without room for difference is a world that lacks the space for humanity itself."

One of the greatest blessings of my life has been landing at the Emery/Weiner School. Like all people, we stumble, but at the end of the day, we are a school that doesn’t want or expect our kids to be cookie-cutter versions of success. We care deeply about who they are and what they have to say.  I could not have created or sustained a program that allows teenagers to stand up in front of the entire community and talk about what makes them feel lonely, frustrated, scared—and also what makes them feel proud of who they are—without the full support of the people in this room. Especially my boss, Stuart Dow, who has not only allowed us to do this but has stood with me when things got controversial: when parents were critical, when faculty were nervous, when students were critical of each other and of the school. Some folks have said we are foolish, even irresponsible, to allow kids to speak about them from the stage. But Stuart, you have always defended this program and helped me reason through the complications and controversies.  Thank you for trusting me and thank you for giving me a place to do what I love.  

High school can be a brutal experience in an often brutal world. Our kids would not have the desire—or the courage—to stand up and say things like "I am gay," "I have struggled with mental illness," or "my father left us" if they did not have the support and guidance of the talented and compassionate people like my colleagues who are here today.  I know everyone says they work with the best people, but I truly do.  I never saw myself as an educator when I became a rabbi, I am so proud to call myself one—and that is largely because of you. 

I especially want to recognize Laura Larkin, our school counselor, who has been my true partner in this endeavor – reading every speech, worrying about every word and helping me ensure that kids get to say what is true for them and still productive for the whole community.  I don’t know how I could do this without you, and frankly, I wouldn’t want to.

There are people who make it possible for me to show up every day and devote whole self to my work: my children; my co-parents, Lonny and Amber; my congregational partner and friend, Rabbi Scott Hausman-Weiss; and my partner in life and the person who has to hear every detail of every saga and every triumph, Ryan Hess. As wonderful as my work is, you have ensured that it is not the only thing in my life and that has allowed me to show up for my students as a whole and balanced person, someone able to hold space for their stories because I don’t have to be lost in my own.

Finally, I truly believe that the greatest good fortune in my life is embodied by my students—I show up in the morning stepping over your books and your computers to get my office, a thousand times a day you bust into my office with your stories and your tears and your questions and every time I hear you say “Rabbi” and know that you are referring to me, I am filled with pride.  When I feel discouraged, I need only to hear your beautiful, brave voices and I am reassured that in your hands this unfinished world might just have a chance of being better. 

I believe in the dignity of difference, which is what this award honors. The Torah says that the Jewish people are to be a people who are different. The word kadosh—holy—literally means set apart, distinctive, different. My students always tell me they want to share their stories so others will know they are not alone, that they are not set apart. But the truth is, we are all set apart—we are all kadosh. And in embracing and celebrating that difference, we aren’t just different—we are holy.

Thank you - Rabbi Laura Sheinkopf