I Fear that the Epitaph on my Tombstone will Read “She was the One who Brought the Dildo to Reines’ Class.”

Indeed, those were the days. The days when, for my first seminary year, I was the only woman in the rabbinic program at HUG in Cincinnati. The days when Alvin Reines, z”l, was teaching Maimonides’ Guide and using the Pines translation. And we all know the pronunciation of dear old Shlomo Pines’ last name! So every time Dr. R. wanted to refer to that translation, he turned to me and asked if I had “it” with me. Finally, one day I did . .. ergo, “She was the one who brought the dildo to Reines’ class.” Humor got me through. Those were the days, too, when a woman’s bathroom was near impossible to find on the HUG campus… the days when our “personal parts” weren’t yet covered on the school’s health insurance… the days when it was clear—wherever we went as student rabbis—that those who showed up came to see us fail (at least we drew crowds!). .. the days of endless speaking engagements on “What It’s Like to be a Woman Student/Rabbi,” (as if I had any other gender frame of reference!) . .. and the days when nothing we wore was ever right!!! Grit and a sure sense of commitment to our sacred work got us through.

Myra Soifer was ordained in 1978, and is the rabbi at Temple Sinai in Reno, NV.