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LIVING UP TO POTENTIAL
Rabbi Daria Jacobs-Velde returns to Ohev Tzedek as spiritual leader
By LINDA M. LINONIS
boardman
As a child, Daria Jacobs attended various holiday services at Congregation Ohev Tzedek with her grandparents, Sidney and Shirley Jacobs. She never imagined one day she would lead them. She is doing just that as Rabbi Daria Jacobs-Velde.
“In a way, I grew up here,” she said, fondly recalling sitting between her grandparents at special services. Sidney Jacobs, now deceased, served as a president at the temple and her grandmother, who lives at Heritage Manor, was a Sisterhood president. Rabbi Jacobs-Velde grew up in Boston. Her parents are Leonard and Barbara Jacobs. Leonard hails from Boardman.
Rabbi Jacobs-Velde said she didn’t set out to be a rabbi, but life took her in that direction.
In 1995, she received a degree in sociology from Brandeis University then spent three years in Japan. She also earned a master’s degree in education from Harvard University in 2000. Rabbi Jacobs-Velde also has spent time in Israel, where she studied from 2004 to 2006 and participated in the Kibbutz University Program in Haifa from 1993 to 1994. In June 2009, she earned a master’s degree in Hebrew Letters and was ordained a rabbi at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Wyncote, Pa., near Philadephia.
“I wanted to travel the world ... I appreciated living abroad,” she said. But, she noted, it was time spent in Japan that made her appreciate Judaism more and want to delve deeper into her Jewish heritage. She attributed that to being in such a minority, with so few other Jews to relate to. Rabbi Jacobs-Velde also said travel abroad heightened her awareness of the danger of being Jewish in some not-so-friendly places. “Being Jewish was part of my identity,” she said. “It made me think more about what it means to be Jewish.”
Rabbi Jacobs-Velde said she has made conscious decisions about what path her life would take. And those decisions, she said, eventually led her to enroll in the rabbinical college. “I think in life you go through different cycles as you figure out who you want to be,” she said.
She said taking this road as a rabbi was one that would “make her more the person I want to be.” And, she added, she wanted to share her appreciation of Judiasm with others of the faith, while encouraging their spiritual growth. “This is living up to my potential,” she said.
Rabbi Jacobs-Velde started her duties at Congregation Ohev Tzedek on Aug. 1. She is sharing the spiritual leadership of the synagogue with her husband, Josh Jacobs-Velde, a rabbinic intern. He is studying at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and will be ordained next June.
Though Rabbi Jacobs-Velde has the experience of rabbinic internships, each synagogue is unique. “I’m finding out how things are done here,” she said. “My goal is to deepen the experience.”
She is leading services at 7:30 a.m. Thursdays and 9:45 a.m. Saturdays that also include light lunch and Torah study. Rabbi Jacobs-Velde is preparing for services for the upcoming High Holiday with Rosh Hashana, which begins at sundown Wednesday, and Yom Kippur, Sept. 18. She has experience as High Holiday cantor and assistant rabbi for these observances.
Rabbi Jacobs-Velde said she and her husband do plan to employ more chanting, singing and music in the structure of services. “It’s a powerful practice to sing,” she said. “You really take it to heart.
“I don’t think you can sing and have your heart be closed,” she continued. “You feel the joy of singing.”
Singing together, Rabbi Jacobs-Velde said, also brings the congregation closer. “I think it is a wonderful means to get the message across.” Familiar and new selections are being used.
Rabbi Jacobs-Velde said she values her voice “as an instrument.”
“Chanting and singing are ways to access the heart,” she said. “It’s a heart-opening experience and I want to give people the opportunity to try it.”
These High Holiday services at Ohev Tzedek will be unique in the fact that the leaders will both be women. Devorah Gottesman will chant the High Holiday liturgy. “I’m really excited about two women leading the congregation,” she said.
And, rabbinic intern Jacobs-Velde also will be involved.
There have been women rabbis for about 40 years, and Rabbi Jacobs-Velde is the first in the area. And though she may be the first in that respect, Rabbi Jacobs-Velde said she appreciates what and who has come before.
“It’s the passing from generation to generation,” she said, noting that her husband’s grandfather served as a rabbi. Their son, Shlomo, is named after a deceased family member in tribute to their heritage.
Just as Rabbi Jacobs-Velde tapped in her own potential, she wants the congregation to employ liturgy and ritual as “tools to tap into potential.”