Diving into Jewish Studies with Corelle Gabay

President of UCSB’s Jewish sisterhood, Achayot, and board member of just about every Jewish organization at UCSB and beyond, Corelle Gabay got together with Fig and Vine to tell our community about her experience in Israel at the Mayanot Institute for Jewish Studies over Winter Break. 

The Mayanot Women's Program offers the opportunity for young women to deeply immerse themselves into contemporary Jewish learning through classes like philosophy, Jewish mysticism, and Torah study. Corelle was drawn to it particularly for the chance to dive into Jewish studies in a place that welcomes any level of prior knowledge and experience. 

“I felt like sometimes in my life, I missed out on a Jewish education and there were so many things I wished I knew more about.”

Corelle’s curiosity had already led her to weekly meetings with our favorite Rebbetzin, Miri, where they engage in Jewish learning and its applications to our daily lives. Miri recommended Mayanot to Corelle, to immerse herself into Jewish studies with a cohort of equally driven and curious women (although Corelle is one of the most driven people I know, hard to match). She was hesitant at first. Learning with Miri was safe and familiar, but going away to study at an Institute of Jewish Studies was daunting, with fears of being behind looming. Nevertheless, her passion for learning and love for the land of Israel brought her to the Jerusalem campus in December. 

When asked what her favorite memory for the trip was, Corelle took me by surprise when she began with, “I came to a point where I started to struggle with what I wanted this experience to project on my daily life.” She recalled feeling overwhelmed at a big group dinner in the middle of the trip, and she had to step away from the dinner early. Some of the other girls had noticed that she left, and joined her upstairs where they were staying. 

“We ended up talking until 2 in the morning about religion in our lives, it was so special talking to other 20 year olds about something so beyond us.”

This group of women was diverse in their religious backgrounds and relationships with Judaism going into the program. Corelle shared that many were already quite religious, but that in itself can have many different meanings person to person. One roommate felt similarly to Corelle, just looking for ways to learn more. One was struggling with some parts of religion. Another grew up in a very religious household, and the pressure turned her away from it, but she has since come back to it on her own. 

“The teachers were so open and taught us how to apply it and make our lives better. I didn't feel like I had to practice a certain way to be a ‘good Jew’.”

One of Corelle’s favorite lessons from her classes was discussing the depth of morning prayers. A teacher provided perspective through the example of Modeh Ani. They note that giving thanks is said before ‘I’, making thanks the first thing you say in the morning, rather than ‘I’ being the way you start your day. For Corelle, this framing means expanding her scope of gratitude beyond herself. 

“This adds so much positivity in how I wake up every morning and reminds me I have a purpose every day to spread light in this world.”

Corelle spends lots of her time spreading light around her, and has already brought some of her experiences and lessons learned at Mayanot back with her to Isla Vista. Achayot recently held a Sushi and Study event with Miri for Rosh Chodesh, the start of the Jewish month and a sacred day for Jewish women. She got to learn about Rosh Chodesh in her studies, and knew immediately that it was something she wanted to implement into her community of Jewish women in Isla Vista. It was a beautiful evening of community and bonding through learning (and great food). 

Corelle’s favorite memory of the trip being a time of struggle perhaps makes the most sense in the end, because it is often those times that we find ourselves searching for spirituality and faith. At Achayot’s Sushi and study event, we discussed the origins of Rosh Chodesh as a women’s holiday. When Israelite men grew impatient and fearful by Moses’ absence in his journey to receive the commandments at Mt. Sinai, they turned to a golden calf to worship. They came to their wives for jewelry to make their golden calf, and the women would not partake. They trusted in G-d, and for that they were rewarded with a day of rest and reflection during the sacred marking of a new moon cycle. 

During our lesson about Rosh Chodesh, Corelle shared that “when you’re at the most difficult times, that is when G-d is closest to you.”

It was being seen and building deep connections with her study group that stuck with Corelle out of all the memories and experiences she enjoyed. For the already religious Jews, the spiritually curious, the cultural Jews, or just the stressed students looking for some reassurance and guidance, Jewish studies and wisdom may have their way into each life differently.