Rabbi Dalia Samansky loves Thanksgiving. But family gatherings can often be fraught. “As much as we’d all love to have a big happy family that gets along, this is not always the case,” she says. The Bible, too, is full of dysfunctional families and imperfect people. Perhaps “we don’t have to be perfect to be loved.”

Was the world created for us or are we but dust and ashes? “Depending on the situation, we should contemplate one or the other to remind ourselves of our place in the world,” says Rabbi Dalia Samansky. “Judaism believes that life is about balance…”

Here, “we stand by one another and we hold each other up,” says Rabbi Dalia Samansky as she’s officially welcomed to Stephen Wise. “Not only am I in awe as I stand before this congregation and God, but I stand firm and strong because I am standing on the shoulders of so many who came before me. This is an honor and a privilege.”

When people come to Rabbi Dalia Samansky to express their disbelief in the Divine, she says: “Tell me about the God you don’t believe in.” More often than not, they’re imagining a God who “resembles Zeus or Santa Claus,” she explains. “But the Bible has many descriptions of God…”

“Gam zeh ya’avor’ — ‘This too shall pass’ has a far deeper meaning than the short sentence implies,” says Rabbi Dalia Samansky. This week Moses reminds the Israelites of the 42 steps of their journey. “Moses wants to be sure that we remember that the journey to freedom, like our lives, are filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.”

“I am a proud Reform Jew,” declares Rabbi Dalia Samansky. “One aspect I particularly love about Reform Judaism is its ability to make Judaism relevant for today’s time.” We see this flexibility in this week’s Torah portion: “Not only does God grant their immediate request, but God even changes the rules going forward.”