SAN DIEGO — San Diego Outreach Synagogue (SDOS) held its first J.E.D. Talk last Sunday. J.E.D stands for Jewish Experiences Discussed. “Everyone has a story to tell and an experience to share,” states Rabbi-Cantor Cheri Weiss, spiritual leader of SDOS. The talks are planned for the second Sundays of the month and will feature SDOS members sharing how their own experiences and/or expertise connect to their Judaism.
Sunday’s two speakers were Dan Weiss and myself. I spoke first, taking listeners on my spiritual journey that took root early with large family celebrations for Jewish holidays, then sprouting as I watched my father pray at home during the High Holy Days (and then sneaking into the synagogue to hear the Yom Kippur shofar blast). The journey continued as I spent my junior year of college in Israel. I became a teacher, a wife and a mother to two sons, and when they began Torah School, I began teaching there as well. I began writing Jewish stories, two of which were published in anthologies. Encouraged by this success, I wrote and published a picture book. Returning to writing Jewish stories, I finished my time-travel Hanukkah chapter book, which was published last year. My Jewish roots have helped me produce a garden of stories for children.
Dan Weiss led listeners along the serendipitous path that guided him in a journey that culminated in his work as a hospice and palliative care nurse with a doctorate in Nursing Practices (DNP). He explains why he wears his kippah at work (and everywhere else) “It is a symbol for the presence of God. God is not just in the temple.”
Dan’s expertise at organizing groups of people has served him well. He assists his wife, Rabbi-Cantor Cheri Weiss, in running San Diego Outreach Synagogue. He sings in both San Diego Jewish Community Choir and the San Diego Jewish Men’s Choir and finds that “singing is sustaining.” His spirituality is woven throughout everything Dan does, incorporating Jewish values such as Chesed (kindness), Pikuach Nefesh (caring for life) and Tikkun Olam (making lives and community a better place). Judaism keeps him going and guides how he cares for patients.
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Marcia Berneger is a retired elementary school teacher as well as a teacher at Torah school. She is the author of such children’s books as Buster the Little Garbage Truck, and A Dreidel in Time.