Pamela Rothstein serves as Director of Lifelong Learning at the Falmouth Jewish Congregation. From the original appointment as Religious School Director in 1999, her position has expanded to better reflect her own, this congregation’s, and the Union for Reform Judaism’s commitment to lifelong Jewish learning.
Ms. Rothstein was born in Chicago, IL in 1961 and raised in Worcester, MA, where her family belonged to Temple Emanuel. She attended Brown University and was graduated in 1983 with a B.A. in Russian Studies, magna cum laude. After living for several years in Yugoslavia, Ms. Rothstein pursued graduate study in the Ph.D. program in history at Yale University, where she earned an A.B.D. in East European and Balkan history (specializing in Yugoslavia) in 1991.
After leaving academia and moving to Falmouth in 1994, Ms. Rothstein first became involved in Jewish learning as a member of the Religious School Committee before accepting the invitation to serve as Religious School Director. Since becoming Director of Lifelong Learning she has expanded learning opportunities for members of all ages. The continuing obligation of Jewish learning is reflected at the FJC by its seamless integration into all aspects of congregational life and activities, from holidays to worship, committee meetings to Social Action. It is Ms. Rothstein’s view that Jewish learning has the potential to transform one’s Jewish identity and engagement, deepening both the individual’s and collective’s relationship with Jewish tradition. By providing opportunities for all ages, abilities, and interests, she aims to maintain a vital, creative, and stimulating connection to Judaism for all members of our congregation.
Ms. Rothstein’s interests are wide-ranging, but areas of special concern that are often reflected in programming include: literature, film, history, the Shoah, German-Jewish relations, cooking, and the arts. She is active professionally, having participated in URJ conference panels and written book discussion guides for the URJ’s Significant Jewish Books.
Ms. Rothstein’s passion for tikkun olam has most recently taken the form of her work on the Steering Committee of No Place for Hate – Falmouth, her service on the Town of Falmouth’s Bikeways Committee, her service on the Neighborhood Falmouth Advisory Committee, and her role on the committee that established and maintains Falmouth’s first dog park. In recognition of her civic engagement, Ms. Rothstein was honored as “Citizen of the Year” in 2017 by the Falmouth Chamber of Commerce. In January 2018, based on her leadership in No Place for Hate – Falmouth, she will be among the recipients of recognition for Human Rights work by the Church Women United of Cape Cod.
In her non-working and non-service time, Pamela is usually found outdoors in nature, on foot or on bicycle, sometimes with her beloved dog.
To reach Pamela Rothstein by e-mail: pbrothstein@comcast.net
From the desk of Pamela Rothstein
Immigrants
I’ve had a song running around in my head for days now. It’s called “City of Immigrants” and it’s written and sung by the talented Steve Earle, a songwriter, musician, recovering heroin addict, record producer, activist and actor (Treme, The Wire). Here is the song’s first verse and chorus: Livin' in a city of immigrants I don't need to [...]
Reform Judaism Biennial 2015
Reform Judaism Biennial 2015 “Across North America, people hunger for real connections. They want – they need – to be part of meaningful communities,” said URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs. “Connection” is a wonderfully appropriate theme for organizing my impressions of Reform Judaism’s Biennial, which I attended this November along with Wendy Nelson. Biennials are always infused with tremendous [...]
A Tempest in a Coffee Cup
As I write these words we’re several weeks away from Thanksgiving, but the “Christmas Wars” have already begun. The first salvo was fired at Starbucks Coffee. Joshua Feuerstein—a self-described “American evangelist, Internet, and social media personality”—rages in a widely-seen video against “the age of political correctness” and the new seasonal coffee cups at Starbucks. What’s the issue? The cups [...]
Rabbi Lieberman’s Testimony Concerning “The Compassionate Care for the Terminally Ill Act”
In late October I submitted the following testimony before the Joint Public Health Committee of the legislature in support of H.B. 1991, “The Compassionate Care for the Terminally Ill Act” which would create a compassionate aid-in-dying law in our state. If passed, Massachusetts would join Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana and California in providing its citizens with important decision-making abilities [...]
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Learned Helplessness They say These clever scientist folks, That there is such a thing As learned helplessness; Cage a rat Subject it To repeated trauma Until it is so tired of fighting It will lie in the corner And take the pain Not leaving Even when the door is opened I know this to be true This has been [...]
Resources on racism and white privilege
In preparation for my Rosh Hashanah (5776) morning sermon, I read a number of books and essays on the themes or racism and white privilege. Here are some of the sources I consulted that I deem worthy of your consideration: BOOKS Between The World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates (Spiegel & Grau, 2015) A searing memoir, in the form of [...]
Who knows where the time goes?
[Remarks offered by Rabbi Lieberman at the celebration of his 25th anniversary with FJC, Aug. 8, 2015] Friends....I am at this moment, as they say in Mamaloshen (Yiddish), farklempt....”unable to speak because of emotion; choked up.” But speak I must, and speak I will, because moments such as these are incredibly precious and rare. First, I have words of [...]
Pole-arities
As I write these words the reverberations of two events that occurred nine days apart in June continue to be felt in our nation. On June 17, nine members of a Bible-study group at AME Emanuel Methodist Church in Charleston, SC were brutally murdered in an act of unvarnished racial hatred. Just yesterday, after mounting public pressure and heated [...]
Boomer Shabbat – 2015!
One of my favorite proverbs states: “The one who sings prays twice.” What about the one who sings, shouts, stomps her feet and dances in the aisles? Now that is truly a fervent kind of praying! It’s that kind of praying, my friends, that we will experience once again, on July 17 at 7:30 PM, in the Meeting House, [...]
Come Worship and Celebrate
Come Worship and Celebrate with This Year’s Adult B’not Mitzvah Class Saturday, June 6 at 10:00 A.M., followed by a festive Kiddush Another group of adult members has stepped up to dedicate a year of study toward becoming b’not mitzvah. Kathleen Gaylord, Gloria Lash, and Merrilee Richter have spent the year studying Jewish ethics, Hebrew and t’filot (prayers), and [...]