Following in her mother’s footsteps, Rabbi Miriam Hoffman looks forward to being a community resource for Jewish identity.
“I want to encourage people to find their way into Judaism, to find their Jewish joys,” Hoffman said.
The rabbi recently moved to Washington, D.C., and stepped into the role of program director of Am Kolel’s Judaic Resource Center in Rockville. Hoffman previously interned for USC Hillel in Los Angeles and worked at Brandeis Hillel for the past two years, which she said may have some similarities to her current work.
“I come from the Hillel world, which is college students,” Hoffman said. “It’s such a unique time in someone’s life in college: You’re meeting people that you never would have met for the first time and you’re away from home for the first time. I think that D.C. is very similar because it’s such a transient city. In every stage of life here, you’re experiencing different challenges.”
She was ordained at Hebrew Union College in May 2023. Hoffman has worked with the Avodah Jewish Service Corps and is a member of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. When she’s not working, you can find Hoffman working out, crafting or hanging out with her dog, Kafka.
Tell me about your Jewish upbringing and background.
I grew up in Orange County, California. My mom became a rabbi when I was in high school. I went to Jewish day school [kindergarten] through [sixth grade] and then public school after that. I went to Jewish summer camp for 15 years. I loved being Jewish; it was like my entire personality. When I went to college in Arizona, I went to Hillel and Chabad, immediately got involved in both, was on boards and [served as] club presidents and all those kinds of things. My junior year of college, when I studied abroad in Spain, is when I decided to be a rabbi.
What about Spain inspired you to pursue the rabbinate?
I wanted to be a therapist my whole life. Like I’ve said, Judaism was just always around; always a part of my life. And then when I was in Spain, it wasn’t. I was the only Jew in the town I was in. It was a pretty small town, and for the first time, I had to go searching for Judaism. One Shabbat, I decided to take the train by myself to Madrid to go to Chabad, because it was the only Jewish community I could find. On the train ride back after services and dinner, they invited me to stay, which was very lovely. I felt really warm and felt like something had been missing that I didn’t realize had been missing over the last few weeks in Spain.
The next day, I called my mom and said I could either continue to be a therapist like I’ve wanted to my whole life and become [a] temple president and do Judaism in my personal life, or I could combine therapy and Judaism and be a rabbi. My mom, the rabbi, was like, “You should do that.” So I did. I added a Judaic studies minor and haven’t looked back.
What are your responsibilities at Am Kolel?
I will lead once-a-month Friday night services or programming. I will be co-teaching the Intro to Judaism class and a couple of other classes. I’ll be doing pastoral care, lifecycle events and programming to get people excited about Am Kolel and to connect with each other and the community.
What do you look forward to most in your new role?
I’m excited to be in D.C. I think the whole DMV is a super-interesting area, especially right now. Am Kolel’s mission is to meet the unmet needs of this community, so to be able to identify what those needs are and to create spaces for Jews to feel comfortable both in their Jewish spaces and their social spaces — having that space be one place I think is really important. I’m excited to meet this community and be another resource for people.
What do you like about the Am Kolel community so far?
They’re so nice. I only just got to D.C. yesterday, so I haven’t met everyone yet, but the people I’ve met on Zoom have been so lovely. Someone from the board called me to say “welcome to the community” a couple days ago. I’ve been invited to so many different programs and events, and there’s a Welcome Shabbat for me next Friday. I’m very excited to meet everybody.
What are your upcoming goals?
I would love to bring more people in. I would love to see young people, families come [into] this community. [Rabbi] David [Shneyer] said that there was some high percentage of unaffiliated Jews in the DMV area. I would love to make temple community membership less scary [and] less isolating. I think for a lot of young people, paying to be a part of a community feels daunting, and [wondering] “Is it the right community?” But I hope to be able to show young people [and] young families that this is not just an amazing community that you should be a part of, but being an official member of a community is a really great opportunity.
Part of why I was hired and [one] of my goals [is] to build authentic connections with people. Based on my experience, based on who I am as a young female rabbi, I think that is just part of what’s going to help me have relationships with people and connect with them. I think I have a unique opportunity to be able to connect with them and offer them something beautiful and meaningful.
