A Leap of Faith: Certified Public Accountant (CPA) to Jewish Educator

I met Sherri when she was launching her new career as Director of Congregational Learning at Beth El, a synagogue in South Orange, NJ. I worked for her as an administrator part-time to accommodate my life as a mom of two young kids. I loved watching her pursue her passion, something that required attending graduate school for three years full-time when she was 48 years old. She brought energy, enthusiasm and creativity to her job developing a Hebrew school from scratch. 

Becoming an educator was Sherri’s second career. Sherri was a second generation CPA and began working for her dad and cousin’s accounting firm when she was only 14 years old. She studied accounting in college and worked for a big firm for a year before becoming a minority partner with the family firm. She loved working for the family business as she raised her kids. She had a lot of flexibility and support. When her kids entered middle and high school her father sold the business and she decided to stay home with her kids. It was an emotional decision but as Sherri often found throughout her life, the universe told her she made the right choice. 

Remember What You Loved Doing As a Child

Shortly after she left the accounting firm, her son started studying to become a Bar Mitzvah. Sherri began attending services with him as he prepared. Going back to synagogue with her son reminded her how much she had loved services when she was growing up. She recalled the feeling of delight she experienced when the Rabbi asked her to come up to the bima (stage) to lead a prayer. After her son’s Bar Mitzvah, she became a “regular” at services and, eventually, she was the first woman to read Torah at her synagogue. When she started thinking about what to do next in her career, someone advised her to think about what gave her pleasure as a child, and she immediately remembered her love for Judaism and her synagogue. She decided to join a program called IMUN which took place at Camp Ramah in the Poconos. The program was designed to develop the synagogue skills of congregants so they could come back and share their skills in their synagogue. It was there that she met other people who, like her, eventually went on to various Jewish careers. 

Teaching Comes in Many Forms

After her participation at IMUN, Sherri became a Hebrew school teacher. Upon reflection, Sherri realized that she has really always been a natural teacher. Back in the 1980s when she was working at her dad’s accounting firm, she had to teach clients how to do automated bookkeeping–which was completely new in that world of limited technology. She had always been a good listener as her accounting clients shared their life stories with her. When she was younger she taught swimming and was a swimming coach.

Take a Leap of Faith

So it made sense and felt right up her alley when a friend from the IMUN program reached out to tell her about a special program through the Jewish Theological Seminary for Jewish Educators. It was a perfect marriage of her two interests–Judaism and teaching. Sherri took the 3 year program full-time on a full scholarship. Her biggest fear during this transition was managing the subway system in NYC. But the small town girl had no issues and she thrived at school, making friends with the other five women who were her age and pursuing a second career among a sea of 25-year olds.

Leverage Your superpower

At 51 years of age Sherri was hired as the Director of Congregational Learning and had the opportunity to design an entirely new Jewish learning environment at the synagogue for both children and adults.  She dove into the opportunity. Her love of education, kids and Judaism propelled her along. She came up with a brilliant Idea of organizing the school into houses Harry Potter-style which became a unifying aspect to her program. She had a superpower: to find the Jewish in the secular. She also had the ability to multitask, stay organized and maintain a budget due to her years as a CPA. During a performance review, someone remarked that she was the perfect for this role because she had the enthusiasm of someone new and fresh and the experience of someone who has been a parent and a business woman.

Stay Open to Possibilities

After five years, Sherri knew it was time to leave and pursue other opportunities. She took several leaps of faith again. She quit before she had another job lined up, she was offered a job at a synagogue in Chapel Hill and then moved there two weeks later despite living in NJ her entire life (and being a fourth generation in the Plainfield NJ area). She commends her friends for giving her the support to make this change. She had divorced several years earlier and realized she didn't have to stay in NJ and was free to follow this opportunity. Her friends came over to help her pack up and she offered them beer and pizza.

She entered the Chapel Hill synagogue with experience under her belt and she felt the culture was warm and welcoming. She felt at home immediately. She spent the first year observing and then she jumped in with her special touches to make the school her own. As luck would have it, her daughter and son moved south too and she now has an active role in her grandchildren’s lives. So while it may have been risky to move from NJ to Chapel Hill on short notice, the universe again seemed to accommodate.

Sherri is currently a grandmother living in Chapel Hill NC recently retired from her job as Education Director for Kehillah Synagogue in Chapel Hill. Her life has taken many twists and turns, but she is loving her freedom, including not having to work weekends for the first time in many, many years, as well as the ability to now be a congregant enjoying the Synagogue services rather than ensuring everyone else is comfortable. She tutors B'nai Mitzvah students and loves the connections she continues to make with kids on their Jewish journey.

Sherri attributes the success of her career pivot to her willingness to stay open to possibilities, to take risks and to find community wherever she goes. As a witness to her story, I see how magic happens when you mix passion, experience and a desire to continue growing and learning.