First female rabbi in Orlando

The Congregation of Reform Judaism in Orlando has recently welcomed Rabbi Rachael Jackson, her husband, Danyul and 9-year-old son, Adrian. Rabbi Jackson is the first female rabbi to serve in the Orlando community. She is not the only female rabbi now here. Rabbi Melissa Crespy accepted the position of full-time rabbi at Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation shortly after Rabbi Jackson.

Jackson has been selected by congregation CRJ to replace Rabbi Steven Engle who served the congregation for over 27 years and has now retired.

Hailing from Hendersonville, N.C., Jackson served as the rabbi for congregation Agudas Israel for eight years prior to moving to Apopka, Fl., to assume her new role.

“I’m honored to have been chosen to be the new rabbi for CRJ and excited to get started. Everyone has been so welcoming, and I’d like to express my gratitude to Rabbi Engle for leading the congregation so fearlessly into the 21st century and for being so kind to me.”

Jackson was born in Los Angeles and at the age of eight her parents moved the family to an area called Black Forest, located northeast of Colorado Springs, Colorado. “I grew up in a magnificent, rural area. As a young girl, I always had a compelling interest in Judaism, but because of where we lived there wasn’t a synagogue, so I couldn’t attend.

Jackson enrolled in Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, where she entered into the science curriculum. After four years of study in Flagstaff, she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. After University Jackson moved to Denver, where she began working in the field of Pharmacological Analysis Chemistry.

She feels that science and chemistry draw strong correlations to the rabbinate. As an example, “Why does a rainbow exist?” Jackson asks. “We know that the angle in which light hits the molecules makes the wavelengths spread out producing the colored effect. Science tells us that, but in viewing the rainbow there an “awe” factor. The “awe,” from a religious point leaves us to ask other questions in search of those spiritual answers we seek. If you think about it, the processes of science and the searching for spiritual answers are very similar.”

In explaining how she found her way to the rabbinate from chemistry, Rabbi Jackson quoted Mark Twain, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why?”

Her evolution to the rabbinate came to her over time when she joined and became very involved in Congregation Har Hashem in Boulder, Colorado, in Denver and while she was working as a chemist through her 20s.

Rabbi Jackson met her husband in 2007 in synagogue.

When the decision was made to become a rabbi, Jackson began anew by attending the Hebrew Union College/ Jewish Institute of Religion, HUC-JIR. The first year of study was a year in Israel. She first visited Israel on a birthright trip, then the year in seminary.

After graduating from seminary, the family moved to Hendersonville, N.C., where she accepted the position of rabbi for Congregation Agudas Israel. Agudas Israel is a congregation that is set in an area with a predominantly retired population. After eight years Rabbi Jackson was looking for new horizons and was intrigued with the more diverse generational composition of CRJ.

Danyul has a business called “A twist of Fate, Magic the Gathering – collectable cards.” He buys and sells collectables. “[It’s] perfect,” Rabbi Jackson said, “as I can work full time and he’s freer to take care of [our son].”

“I’m very excited to be here. Everyone has been so welcoming. I can’t wait to get started,” she stated.