In Jewish circles, we don’t talk much about “The Calling” – perhaps from above, perhaps from within — to leadership. God called out to Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah and every other Jewish prophet – why not to us? Before Passover, acclaimed teacher Rabbi Naomi Levy, recently named (again) as one of “America’s Top 50 Rabbis” by Newsweek, posed this question to a crowd of Jewish Federation staff and her fellow rabbis.
Levy, author of the national bestseller To Begin Again and Talking to God, is the founder and leader of NASHUVA, a Jewish spiritual outreach movement in Los Angeles. On March 21, she taught on the week’s Torah portion, Vayikra (“And He Called”), as part of an ongoing Board of Rabbis/Jewish Federation series, Leaders on Leadership.
“The Calling is a sense in your life that the universe is calling you to step up,” she said. “[The word] Vayikra is written with a small Alef because Moses was so broken inside – and he answered the call . . . That moment when you feel low and broken is the moment when you might experience the greatest calling.”
In her most recent book, Hope Will Find You, Levy shares her journey and the wisdom she gained after a doctor told her that her young daughter, Noa, had a fatal degenerative disease – and the rabbi’s whole life unraveled. During the lunch seminar in March, she also read from the book and encouraged the group to discuss when they first felt “called” to their own career or leadership role.
“She’s the most authentic person I know – she speaks from the heart,” said Federation President Jay Sanderson, who introduced Levy and called her “my friend, my rabbi.”
Rabbi Mark S. Diamond, Executive Vice President of the Board of Rabbis/Jewish Federation, praised Levy’s “special gift for inspiring everyone—clergy and laity, Jewish and non-Jewish, scholar and student—who is privileged to learn with her . . . We are privileged to have our most creative and dynamic rabbis teach in the Leaders on Leadership program.”
Levy was in the first class of women to enter the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. She has appeared on “Oprah,” “The Today Show” and NPR. She lives in Venice with her husband, Rob Eshman, editor of the Jewish Journal, and their children, Adi and Noa.
