August 2022
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Making the World a Better Place
Rabba Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez shares about her journey to Observance, the importance of connection, and making the world a better place.
By Penina Taylor
Rabbanit. Rabba. Rabbi. Maharat. No matter what title you use, the idea of an Orthodox woman who is highly educated and “ordained” for Jewish communal service is a controversial one. Either you think that women Rabbis are single handedly responsible for all the ills that befall the Jewish people, or you believe that they are going to bring about the true and final redemption of humankind. For the most part there’s no middle ground. And Rabba Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez is no exception to this phenomenon.
Melissa grew up, what she calls, “West Coast Conservative” and even though she didn’t know anyone who kept kosher or Shabbat growing up, she says that Judaism was always important to her, that she was always striving for her Judaism to have deeper roots. She explains that being Jewish was more than just a cultural identity, it was a religious identity, albeit not a “halachic” one. She went to shul, read the Torah, and led in services.
Unlike many Baalei Teshuva, Melissa’s spiritual journey isn’t one of those with an identifiable “ah-ha” moment. She explains that she had a thirst to learn more about Judaism. The more she learned, the more she took on and the more she took on, the more she wanted to learn. For her it was a natural, slow growth into full observance.
A Message From Our Editor
As we are preparing to publish our next edition of UNORTHOBOXED, it is the first week of the Hebrew month of Av. The month of Av is known for an astonishing number of bad things befalling the Jewish people, including the destruction of both the first and second Temples in Jerusalem. Customarily from the 1st of Av until the 9th (Tisha B’Av) is a time of intense national mourning and is supposed to also be a time of intense introspection.
It is said that the first Temple was destroyed because of idolatry, and the second because of sinat chinam (baseless hatred). That in the time of the Second Temple, the Jewish people didn’t worship other gods – in fact it is said that they studied Torah and fulfilled the mitzvot fastidiously. Well, most of the mitzvot. There is one mitzvah that in all their holy accomplishments they seemed to overlook (or chose to disregard) – the mitzvah to love one’s neighbor. But, we are taught that we must not judge the generation of Jews who caused the destruction of the second Temple – since we have not yet merited to see it rebuilt we are as guilty as they were of this sin. Baseless Hatred.
Penina Taylor
Editor in Chief
