The Central Conference of American Rabbis, Reform Judaism’s rabbinic professional leadership organization, is home to more than 2,000 Reform rabbis across North America and beyond. And while Reform rabbis wear many hats, often at the same time—Torah scholar, officiant, pastoral counselor, chaplain, educator, organizational leader, activist—they also serve in a wider range of settings, changing the shape of the sacred work of the rabbinate with innovative new visions for Jewish communal life.
We’re proud to share the stories of CCAR members who are taking our ancient Jewish traditions and imaginatively and courageously building new programs, practices, collaborations, communities, and transformational approaches to Reform Judaism. We’re also sharing how, even in dark times, so many CCAR members find joy as rabbis, and we share their hopes for the future of the Reform rabbinate and Reform Judaism.
Rabbi Rachel Van Thyn (RVT) is a New York-based Reform rabbi, ordained in 2013. Here, shares her innovative rabbinic journey from working in a congregation to becoming a board-certified hospital chaplain, serving on the front line during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as her personal challenges with fertility, which became an opportunity to help others on their fertility journey.
How do you describe your rabbinate?
My rabbinate has always been connected to two core values: the pursuit of justice and the value of hospitality or welcoming. My grandparents were Holocaust survivors, and I was raised with the sense that it is our responsibility as human beings to make the world a better place. My home congregation served as a welcoming and inviting space where people were embraced regardless of what they looked like. Since I grew up in a predominantly non-Jewish city, having a place where people were excited and happy to see me and where I didn’t feel excluded shaped my future path without my realizing it.
As a rabbi, these poles of justice and inclusivity guide my professional and personal selves. Every professional role I have embodied has been with a pursuit of these principles, whether working for a congregation, camp, a nonprofit organization, or a healthcare system.
What is the rabbinic motto or the words that guide your rabbinate?
To recognize that there is so much that is happening internally for each person I encounter that I may never know about, and thus to treat everyone with kindness, compassion, and dignity.
I also feel connected to the teaching that says every person should carry a note in each pocket: one that says, I am but dust and ashes, and the other which says, the whole world was made for me. Our work is in each moment to figure out which pocket to draw upon.
How have you innovated within your rabbinic career?
There are two significant ways I’ve been innovative in my career. First, I moved from pulpit work and became a board-certified chaplain, and then completed additional training to become a CPE Supervisor (a CPE Supervisor trains and supervises clergy and professionals in multi-faith chaplaincy). I knew for a long time that being with people in crisis and difficult moments, counseling people, and holding space was something I felt energized by and drawn towards, even before I became a rabbi.
I have worked at a massive healthcare system for nearly a decade, including serving front-line during the COVID-19 pandemic. These surges coincided with part of my fertility journey to become a parent, and I found myself undergoing IVF treatments while we walked through an unprecedented time in history. Our family had good support, but we needed specific kinds of emotional, spiritual, and ritual care that we didn’t have. So I began creating it for myself.
After I was lucky enough to give birth to a child, I established Clara Fertility Counseling & Support—a practice (not associated with the hospital) that provides these types of support to people in their family-building journeys, regardless of whether they consider themselves spiritual or religious or not. I work with individuals and couples, holding space for questions and feelings as they strive to expand their families, and I also work with organizations and congregations with things like offering best practices towards being inclusive to their members, many of whom are wrestling with in/fertility.
I also run support groups for those on in/fertility journeys. I utilize my training as a chaplain and educator to assist people in using their own wisdom and resiliency to make it through difficult moments.
How has your rabbinate evolved throughout your career?
I’ve been privileged to serve in a variety of settings: in a pulpit, in non-profit organizations, at camp, and now in healthcare. I’m not surprised where I’ve ended up, but I could not have predicted the journey!
I think my rabbinate has evolved by listening to that voice of discernment within—the same voice all of us have the capacity to hear for ourselves—to figure out which corner of the world I need to devote my heart and energy to next. It’s not always easy to hear this voice or to sometimes take a leap in a new direction, and in the past I felt pressured to make my rabbinate look a certain way. But along the path I’ve found teachers and mentors who encourage me to be myself, and to pursue my understanding of how a rabbinic life can look, even if it’s different from others. I do my best now to encourage other clergypeople to listen to their own voice, because we need all kinds of people and all kinds of rabbis in the world.
What do people find unique, unusual, or surprising about your rabbinate?
People find it surprising that a lot of my day is spent teaching, serving, and caring for others who aren’t necessarily Jewish. Every day is different, and each story that I encounter is unique. At the same time, my identity as a chaplain and an educator is completely rooted in who I am as a rabbi and in Jewish values. So even if the people I’m connecting with aren’t Jewish, I’m still grounded in and drawing upon my Jewish values and teachings to orient me in the work of caring for others. Training to become a board-certified chaplain and then an educator took many years of study and practice, and I remain humbled every day by learning from and with my students and my patients. The learning never stops—nor should it!
For my family-building and fertility work, which is not associated with my work at the hospital, though I draw on my skills and training to do it—it has allowed me to share with the wider world the complexities of what in/fertility can look like for people. Every story is unique, and for so many, their experiences are invisible. I hope I’m helping change that narrative. Getting to accompany people on their journeys is a deep privilege.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your rabbinate?
It’s very hard to narrow down to one thing! Many days at the hospital, I am meeting patients and their families on some of the worst days of their lives. Being with them in their sacred journey of illness, death, or recovery is intense and meaningful. With my students, bearing witness to their learning a new skill or in their own self-discovery brings me such joy.
With my growing in/fertility work, I feel gratitude when someone shares with me that they feel seen, recognized, and supported. Or when they feel safe enough to say something aloud maybe for the very first time.
What excites you or makes you feel the most hopeful about the future of rabbinate?
I am excited by all the creativity in the field. Just as I have found an area in which I believe I can make a real difference in peoples’ lives, so too have my colleagues and future colleagues—regardless of what type of setting we are in. And that more and more people are being embraced for who they are and what skills they can bring to the world.
Rabbi Rachel Van Thyn is a Clinical Pastoral Educator at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City and is also the founder of Clara: Fertility Counseling & Support. She also serves on the Board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.
