Show Notes
Human & Holy is on a season break for the rest of the summer! During this time, we're airing your favorite moments from the past few seasons. This episode is an impactful moment extracted from the original conversation. Watch the episode in full here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VuF9NwQt8o
Rebbetzin Rachel Jacobs built a Jewish community in Birmingham, UK from the ground up: a Chabad house, a Torah Tots nursery, a Hebrew school, and a role as the only Jewish studies teacher in a school of 160 students. In this excerpt, we explore what happens when you feel called to build something and no one shows up, and how she learned to measure success by relationships instead of numbers. Rachel shares the Torah teaching that convinced her to start a Hebrew school with just six kids, and what it felt like years later watching those same kids read fluently from the Torah at their own bar and bat mitzvahs. A conversation about faith, community building, Jewish education, and redefining what success actually means.
Rachel Jacobs, originally from Los Angeles, California, currently serves as Rebbetzin of Singers Hill Synagogue in Birmingham, England. She is also the Educational Director of the Torah Tots nursery school, the Cheder, and the Jewish studies program at the local King David Primary School. Over the past 20 years, Rachel has gained recognition as an inspiring Jewish speaker, with a particular focus on women’s issues and marriage. Her warmth, charisma, and insightful teachings have touched the lives of Jewish women across the United States and Europe. You can contact Rachel via [email protected] and on instagram @Rachelcjacobs.
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TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — The ache of being called to something and hearing crickets back 00:23 — Rachel on the early, hardest days of building a Chabad house 04:03 — The real question underneath it all: are we measuring success by numbers? 04:21 — Starting Torah Tots with six kids: "affecting children from a young age is infinite" 05:41 — The reality now: down to two kids, and showing up anyway 05:53 — Called into King David School as the lone Jewish voice for 11 students among 160 07:35 — Leading through bureaucracy and red tape: "you have to go back to your why" 09:23 — Redefining the metric of success: deep impact on one person over reach to many 09:50 — Rachel's husband and the minyan he shows up for every night, no matter the count 12:53 — The Torah source that named her calling: Matos Masei and the tribes who chose to build 12:54 — Starting Cheder Club with five boys and one girl 14:56 — Years later: those same kids reading fluently from the Torah at their bar and bat mitzvahs 16:04 — "It's the positivity. People want to be part of success." 16:14 — Outro
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