Rabbi Sharona Grinsteiner

Sharona serves as the Education Director and Rabbinic Intern at the Hebrew Educational Alliance in Denver, Colorado. Born and raised in Israel in an orthodox Moshav, she brings the authenticity of her Yemenite tradition into all aspects of Jewish liturgy and rituals. Sharona is a veteran of the IDF where she served as an officer of a teaching unit. She is a passionate Torah reader, and has over 25 years of experience as a Hebrew and Judaic teacher in various synagogues, schools and Jewish institutions. As a writer of poetry and midrashim she enjoys bringing new meaning to the sacred texts and the stories of our past. Sharona is the proud mother of four adult sons and is living happily-ever-after in her own personal version of the American Dream with the love of her life Leo.

Gratitude

I am grateful to all my rabbis and teachers in ALEPH for their deep wisdom and reassuring guidance. I did not have the privilege of knowing R. Zalman, but his legacy and heritage is living within me. Through my rabbis and teachers - his students - whose love and dedication are evident in the way they hold true to his beliefs and wisdom, I have learned to embrace Reb Zalman’s love of all people, his commitment to the wellbeing of Gaia, and his open heart to the worship of all who seek God with goodness.  

I am grateful to all my friends in my DLTI cohort #9 who taught me how the words and the melodies of our prayers can open the gates of heaven, and to all my fellow students in the classes we’ve taken, who taught me how 10 students with 30 opinions can still be all right and united in truth.

I am grateful to Ming, who like God, always answers your call, always listens to you, always fixes and repairs what needs to be tikkuned, and always ends every conversation with “love you”.  

My gratitude goes to two teachers outside of the ALEPH world:

To my friend and mentor Dr. Martin Sicker whose brilliant mind and immense knowledge has shaped and enriched my own understanding on almost all things from philosophy to the written word.  

And to my professor and friend Dr. Bobby Pace whose fabulousness is as great as his intellect, for challenging me with everything that is different than I, and helping me reach my full potential (he knows what I mean by that).

I also want to acknowledge Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Z”l whom I never met, but who had a profound impact on my identity as a Jew and my adherence to Jewish morality and ethical living. 

To all my students, young and older, to the HEA congregation and all my friends there, my gratitude for cheering and supporting me in this rabbinic journey and giving me the opportunity to do what I love. I am proud to call HEA my spiritual home.

Most of all, my gratitude goes to my family; to my four boys whom I always want to make proud, for their persistent love and encouragement. And last, but really first of all – to my Leo, who at times leads me, at times follows me, and most of the time walks with me, taking care of me through it all. He is my sun and the moon, and the reason for why I am today.

I will end with what is the essence of all: 

ברוך אתה יה אלוהינו מלך העולם שהחייתני וקימתני והגיעתני לזמן הזה

Blessed are you, Adonai our God,
Sovereign of all,
You who have kept me alive,
You who have sustained me,
You who brought me to this time.

Poem: Shir HaShirim Asher Lishlomo, by Sharona Grinsteiner

שיר השירים אשר לשלמה

ואני מאותן עלמות אשר אהבוך

וגם אם אין עיני יונים
ואינני עדר, וחוט שני, ופלח רימון

שחורה אני, אכן שחרחורת
מן השרון, ואמי היא השושנה

כמוה, גם אני ביקשתיך

ובגינת האגוז
ראשי הנחתי על שמאלך
וימינך חיבקתני

שיר השירים אשר לי

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