West Hartford rabbi infuses women’s programming with spirituality By Cindy Mindell  WEST HARTFORD - This November, Rabbi Ilana Garber of Beth El Temple will lead a women’s journey to Israel. From Nov. 30 to Dec. 12, participants in “Eretz Yisrael Sheli - Israel Is Mine” will explore what it’s like to be a woman in Israel today, and learn about the women who helped build the country. The idea for the trip came from women congregants, Garber says, several of whom approached her over the last few months. With several popular women’s programs already in the works at Beth El, Garber realized it was time to take a group to Israel. The trip is open to all women aged 18 and up; those under age 21 must be accompanied by a family member aged 21 or older. “My primary goal on this trip is to build our sacred community and strengthen our bond as women, and to enhance our connections to Israel,” she says. The group will meet with women who serve as Knesset members and judges, in the Israel Defense Force and as Reform and Conservative rabbis, and as educators and healers. The itinerary also includes two days at a northern spa. Garber is passionate about women’s programming that nourishes body, mind, and spirit. Since joining Beth El in 2005, she has helped energize the existing monthly women’s Rosh Hodesh group. This month, Garber welcomed the inaugural group of 28 teenage girls as Beth El launched “Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing!,” a national program of Moving Traditions. Garber’s second pre-High Holiday spiritual retreat for women, “Relax, ReJEWvenate, Renew,” is sold out. This year, she will facilitate “Girl Talk” at Yachad, the Greater Hartford Jewish community high school, a class that creates a safe space, in a Jewish context, for girls to talk about issues they’re facing. Working with girls and women comes naturally, Garber says. “I’m always thinking, ‘How can I make the most meaning for the women around me?’” Garber’s passion was influenced by her mother, Roz, an executive director of Hadassah and a founding board-member of Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center near Boston. “She taught my two sisters and me to be pioneers in Jewish education, and to find women’s Jewish spirituality through Jewish education.” Among other early role models, Garber cites Rabbi Emily Lipof, the first woman rabbi she met, who is now Rabbi Emerita of Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, MA, and Amy Eilberg, the first Conservative rabbi ordained in the U.S. “The woman I always look back to is Miriam, who was also about music and dance, and creative expression,” she says. Garber notes that men get something out of women’s programming: If the women are happy, fulfilled, and nourished, they’ll be nurturing in return. This year, Garber will get to expand her own education, as she studies with world-renowned rabbis, sociologists, and organizational practitioners. Garber was recently selected as one of 18 rabbis of all denominations throughout the country, to participate in the STAR PEER Executive Leadership Program. The STAR (Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal) Program promotes Jewish renewal through congregational innovation and leadership development. STAR PEER helps Jewish professionals meet key challenges in modern American Jewish religious life. “I applied to the program because it is an opportunity for me to continue learning and growing as a rabbi,” Garber says. “I know this will greatly benefit Beth El Temple, our members, and our community. I look forward to bringing home to Beth El all that I learn and to helping shape our Jewish future with creativity, vision, and new leadership skills.” To learn more about the women’s trip to Israel, visit www.bethelwesthartford.org or contact Rabbi Garber at igarber@bethelwh.org or (860) 233-9696. Comments? Email cindym@jewishledger.com.