Renata Gerecke

Voices of WRJ: Tazria-M'tzora

Renata Gerecke
 April 24, 2015

Ten years ago I became a bat mitzvah, and I read from M'tzora. I still give the same summary of the parashah that I gave then: it tells us how to clean lepers of leprosy, how to clean houses of mold, and clean women when they menstruate (a ritual more commonly known as the mikvah). This year, we read Tazria and M'tzora together—Tazria adds how to clean women after childbirth and begins the remarks on leprosy. People's eyes still widen as I tell them this. "But that's the worst one of the year!" they exclaim. I cannot disagree. The Torah: A Women's Commentary, along with whatever translation I read back then, emphasizes the treatment of lepers, moldy houses, menstruating women, and new mothers as 'ritual purification.' Certainly, as presented, that is the tie that binds these acts together. But that was never what struck me about this portion. Reading M'tzora, all I could see was exile. The lepers and the menstruating must leave their homes and molded homes must be left.

Voices of WRJ

Women of Reform Judaism, AND of STEM

Renata Gerecke
 March 11, 2015

This week we are thrilled to announce and celebrate a second year of WRJ-funded scholarships for girls to attend the URJ 6 Points Sci-Tech Academy. Moreover, we are doubling last year’s $5,000 commitment to women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), providing $10,000 in scholarships for this summer. In honor of this important contribution, we will be featuring blogs this week on the importance of supporting and mentoring young women and girls in STEM. Read last year’s blog series. Today, a WRJ Staff member writes about leaving mathematics, only to find that her interest in STEM is reflected throughout WRJ.

After I graduated college, I decided that I wasn't going to pursue mathematics. I had spent four years obsessed with analysis and group theory, but after two summers of research and two national conferences, I wasn't sure it was the world for me. I wanted to do something more than sit in front of a chalkboard for days on end, to come up with a proof that would only have practical applications hundreds of years later, if I was lucky. Don't get me wrong—pure mathematics is an incredible field with many inspired individuals and teams; I just realized that I wanted to work for an organization that did good in the world, worked with people, and gave back to the community.