Hineni, a Virtual Jewish Renewal Community Create During the Pandemic

​Hineni was a virtual Jewish Renewal Community created during the Covid pandemic by Rabbi Elizabeth Goldstein and Rabbi Hazzan Devorah Tucker Fick.

Welcome to HINENI.SPACE: A Virtual Jewish Renewal Community

Our Torah teaches that when our biblical ancestors such as Abraham and Moses were called by God at transformational moments, they answered Hineni, “I am here.”  I am grounded in the place in which I stand and I am ready to answer the call. 

In these moments of the Corona pandemic in 2020, we are all answering the call in different ways and from different places, literary and figuratively. One of the positive awakenings we have had this year is that distance and place need not hinder us from living out our dreams of being in a community in which we can be fully ourselves.  And so we invite you to join with us in prayer and study beginning with Tisha B’Av (the 9th of Av), traveling through Elul and into Rosh HaShana, Yom Kippur and the festivals connected to Sukkot. 

One of our gift is the way we complement each other, each bringing a love of creative davennen rooted in tradition. Devorah stands physically in Michigan and Elizabeth stands physically in Spokane, Washington.  But we have learned that we can stand together not just during a pandemic but whenever we choose to connect.

We are here. Hineni. In our space. We invite you to join us from the place you inhabit and get to know us as we greet the new Jewish year, 5781.

Rabbi Elizabeth W. Goldstein, PhD (Bible)
​Rabbi Elizabeth W. Goldstein was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2001.  She is a member of both the CCAR and OHALAH, the clergy organization of Aleph: The Alliance for Jewish Renewal.  She holds an undergraduate degree in Religion from Dartmouth College, and a PhD in Biblical Studies and Ancient History from UC San Diego.  Rabbi Goldstein has studied at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, Svara, and continues to learn in the Drisha Kollel. 

In recent years, Goldstein has studied intensively with Aleph Rabbis Daniel Siegel, Hanna Tiferet Siegel, Marcia Prager, and Shawn Zevitt in the Devanenn Leadership Training Institute (DLTI, GROUP 9).  She is a full-time professor of Religious Studies at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA where Rabbi Goldstein also serves as the Jewish chaplain in the Office of Mission and Ministry. Drawing from her time in Renewal, Orthodox, Reform and Conservative contexts, Goldstein believes that learning Torah and davennen in prayerful communities is the pathway to deep connections with the Jewish tradition, and ultimately to find peace there. 

In Hazzan Devorah Tucker-Fick, Goldstein has found a true partner in Jewish spiritual leadership and, with Devorah, feels privileged to invite others into the community: Hineni.space.

More information at   https://www.elizabethwgoldstein.com/

Rabbi Hazzan Devorah Tucker-Fick 
​A 5th-year Cantorial student in the ALEPH Ordination Program, Devorah was born during the week of Parshah Beshalach. It is thus no wonder that she wandered through a wilderness, feeling called to serve others, but without a spiritual home, for nearly 40 years. This journey eventually brought her to Judaism and the calling to the Cantorate. She envisions serving through music, chaplaincy, education, and spiritual direction.

Currently, Devorah has two ongoing ventures: The Blessing Project, which aims to make traditional davening (prayer) and deep spiritual practice accessible and teachable to teens and adults; as well as Hineni, a collaboration with Rabbi Elizabeth Goldstein, which combines Torah learning, music, and spiritual preparation during Elul, the month leading us into Yamim Noraim (the High Holidays).

Devorah is mom to 4 teenagers (whoa!), and partner to Jim. They live in a mid-19th century farmhouse in Michigan with their 3 dogs, 3 cats, 19 chickens, 8 ducks, and 2 geese. (To be clear, the fowl live outside.) 

You can find Devorah on her blog, which combines her family's passion for farm-ing and faith-ing, at https://beeonthefarm.blogspot.com/​