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Rabbi Sandy Sasso Reflects on Lessons in Grace During Her 50 Years as a Reform Rabbi

(ravblog.ccarnet.org, January 22, 2024)

In 1969, when I began seminary, feminism was just being born and Jewish feminism was an oxymoron. Soren Kierkegaard taught that life must be lived forward but understood backward. So, looking back over 50 years, this what I have learned:

You will do things you never thought possible. You will take a new path, start over, build a relationship; you will forgive someone; you will forgive yourself; you will forget what you can’t do and remember what you can.

People and situations may come along to derail you and undermine your hopes. When I was working on a PhD while in seminary, I thought of writing my dissertation about women in Judaism. There was no real scholarship on the subject. My professors told me, “Don’t write about women. Write about something important.” […]

Great Wednesday With Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso

(Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, January 23, 2023)

Nurturing Our Children’s Souls

(onbeing.org, April 29, 2019)

A rabbi and parent, Sandy Eisenberg Sasso wants us to think about how we might teach our children’s souls, not just their minds. She says nurturing the spiritual lives of our children is the work of understanding for ourselves “what really matters in life, what’s precious, what’s more important than earning a living and going through our daily routine.”

Listen to this On Being Podcast now.

Indiana church produces female-focused, Biblical musical

(Disciples News Service, February 13, 2018)

In a world where people are becoming more aware of the inequities half the population faces, Allisonville Christian Church’s Art @ Allisonville drama program is a little ahead of the curve. In his search for a play with a strong female cast, the program’s director Steve Caress ended up commissioning a new play, The Daughters of Z, that will debut at the Indianapolis-area congregation April 27-29, 2018.

“I have noticed over the years that we tend to have more talented women available than talented men, yet the shows that we find tend to have more good male roles than female roles,” Caress said. “Having never commissioned a show before, and so not knowing any better, I decided that I would commission a musical with multiple female leads and a positive message.”

Caress met with several women leaders at Allisonville in his search for the right story to tell, which led him to read works by Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso (a local religious leaders and children’s book author). […]

May 19: Rabbi Sandy Sasso

(Jewish Currents, May 18, 2017)

by Lawrence Bush

Sandy Eisenberg Sasso became the first woman ordained as rabbi by the Reconstructionist movement on this date in 1974. She was also the first woman to serve as rabbi in a Conservative congregation (Indianapolis’ Beth-El Zedeck), and she and her husband Rabbi Dennis Sasso were likely the first rabbinical couple in Jewish history and certainly the first to share a pulpit. Sasso is the author of fifteen award-winning children’s books that transmit the texts, spirituality, and ethical values of Judaism in an accessible and vivid way, including  God’s Paintbrush, Adam and Eve’s First Sunset, and In God’s Name. Recipient of several honorary doctorates, she has been deeply involved in issues of women’s equality, education, hunger, and the arts. Sasso spoke to a crowd of 7,500 at Indianapolis’s Women’s March after the inauguration of Trump, on the theme, “We are not going back.” “We who have gathered here are from many faiths, cultural and ethnic traditions, and walks of life,” she declared.  “We have come as Americans, especially as American women. In our diversity, we are the face of America.” […]

A force for change: Zionsville-founded advocacy group looks to expand around state

(The Lebanon Reporter, March 22, 2017)

By Elizabeth Pearl 

Like many, Jennifer Nelson Williams and Sandy Sasso were concerned about the state of their country after the 2016 election.

Like many, they took to social media to create an online-based group of women who shared their concerns.

Unlike many, the group ballooned to nearly 11,000 members, pulling in supporters from around the state who have attended rallies and workshops and volunteered to run task forces.[…]

Scenes Of Creation

(Greenfield Daily Reporter, February 17, 2017)

GREENFIELD — Arms outstretched, she falls.

The woman depicted in artist Cagney King’s work “Fall from Grace” is a light spot on the canvas.

“She’s falling because there’s that unknown,” King said. “She’s that figure that represents all of us as lights in the world.”

King created the work at her studio in the Creative Arts and Event Center in downtown Greenfield, with texts of the creation narrative as a starting point.

King and 13 other Indiana artists came together to explore those texts and offer their interpretations of them through works of art. They will share those works in an exhibit that opens at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Christian Theological Seminary, 1000 W. 42nd St., Indianapolis. […]

Anne Frank’s Tree: Two Holocaust Picture Books

(Jewish Journal, April 27, 2016)

“The Tree in the Courtyard: Looking Through Anne Frank’s Window” by Jeff Gottesfeld
In 2010, the aging horse chestnut tree located outside the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam collapsed and died. The tree was 172 years old and well-known, because Anne Frank referred to it three times in her famous diary. In 1944, she wrote about her view of the “bare chestnut tree glistening with dew” as she and her friend Peter looked out the window of the secret annex.Two different children’s authors have recently used this tree as the entry point toward a gentle introduction to what happened to Jews during World War II. The books are appropriate for young children ages 7 and up. Stylistically, they are very different, but both are good. The first book listed here has just been published this month, and is truly exceptional— surely destined to garner future children’s literary awards. […]

Can Jeremiah’s Missive of Love Survive in the Age of Emojis?

(Forward, April 3, 2016)

Newly engaged, Rachel was visiting her grandparents in Indianapolis. It was a cold Sunday morning, and the family was getting ready for a Colts game. Rushing to get to the stadium, everyone was looking for a bag in which to carry hats and sweaters. Rachel spotted what looked like a usable sack on the top shelf of a closet. “It’s probably junk,” her grandmother assured her. “Just empty the bag.”

As Rachel emptied the contents onto the dining room table, dozens of letters, neatly folded into envelopes, tumbled out. They were all handwritten to her grandmother by her grandfather, and were all postmarked the summer of 1957.

Later that evening, after the football game (no one remembers who won), the children and grandchildren sat in the living room reading letters, one written for each day of that long summer. They were laughing and blushing. One grandchild wondered, “Maybe we shouldn’t be reading these.” But, of course, they were.

Soon after, Rachel was in my office with her fiancé, Kyle, to discuss their upcoming wedding. She told me of her grandfather’s love letters and asked me to include some of his words in the ceremony. I agreed, even without having read them. […]

Indiana Citizenship Interview with Sandy Sasso

(Indiana Citizenship, January 20, 2016)

Check out the recent interview with Sandy Sasso by the Indiana Citizenship blog.