Sarah Fishman is bringing her yoga journey, small business and Jewish life full circle at the synagogue she considers home.
The longtime instructor has owned the yoga studio Happy Yogi Cooperative, located on the second floor of Tikvat Israel Congregation, since fall 2022.
She and her family became members of present-day Tikvat Israel when Fishman was a young child. The Rockville synagogue is where she attended preschool and had her bat mitzvah — and where she now sends her daughter to Sunday school.
Fishman’s mother was the president of the synagogue in the mid-1990s. The shul had expanded to accommodate a larger early childhood center, including the Hebrew Day Institute, which Fishman attended, before then-Beth Tikva merged with Temple Israel to form what’s now Tikvat Israel.
“Basically my mom was in charge of the renovation project that added this education wing to host my alma mater and now I own a yoga studio in these rooms,” Fishman said from the room she imagines was the principal’s office.
Fishman is also a singer in a High Holidays quartet at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C. The mom of two lives in Wheaton.
Tell me about your Jewish upbringing and background.
I was 3 or 4 when we joined [what was] formerly [known as] Beth Tikva, [now Tikvat Israel], and it’s always felt like a second home. When I was 5 years old, we lived in Israel for six months, so that, at that age, really cemented my Jewish identity for me. By the time we came back, I was pretty fluent in Hebrew, so I can still read and write it. My parents enrolled [my older sister and I] in the Hebrew Day Institute, which no longer exists. [I attended for] first through sixth grades.
I went to Camp Ramah in New England for two summers. There, you get to choose electives. I chose to learn how to read Torah [and] do Torah trope. At 10 or 11, I was already reading Torah in services at Beth Tikva, which is one of the cool things about this congregation — how participatory it is; that lay people are so involved. I think it makes for a more engaged community. By the time my bat mitzvah rolled around, I’d been reading Torah. I led the entire service from Shacharit to Musaf. I did my full Maftir and Haftarah.
For me, it was truly a rite of passage in a way that I’m not sure it is for as many kids.
I still keep kosher after all these years in my home and even out [of the home]. I guess I’m more of a cultural Jew who really loves the rituals and the traditions. Just about every Friday night, my family does Shabbat together with wine and candles and challah because the kids love the challah. I mean, who doesn’t love the challah?
How did you settle on Tikvat Israel as the location for your yoga studio?
When I first took over, [Happy Yogi Cooperative] didn’t have a home any more. I was looking for some physical, in-person venues to offer some classes. If there was going to be any growth for the studio, we needed to have some in-person programming. We rented space at [a local] pool, we rented space at a Unitarian congregation, we are still renting space at the fire station in Wheaton. Rabbi [Marc] Israel goes to the pool at Manor Woods Swim Club and he signed up for the outdoor yoga class that I taught. After Rabbi Israel took my class at the pool, he helped grease the wheels for me and make sure I could [also rent studio space at Tikvat Israel]. We just rented downstairs in the library on Thursday nights for the first five months, from November 2022 to March 2023. The proposal to move in and fully inhabit the studio space upstairs was made in February 2023.
Why is it important for your children to experience Jewish life?
It’s part of their ancestry; it’s part of their inheritance. I want them to know where they’ve come from and not lose the long lineage that’s brought us here.
Part of my appreciation for Judaism [is] having this role model of a female cantor, [Tikvat Israel’s recently retired Cantor Rochelle Helzner], a female clergy [member] who is a respected leader in the community. I always grew up understanding that you just need to do your best to be a good person; there’s so many ways to be a “good Jew.” My takeaways were acceptance and flexibility and that we need to stick together and never forget. I think those are great values. Now, I want my kids to have exposure to those values and it’s really up to me because my husband is not Jewish.
Tell me about your involvement with Adas Israel’s High Holiday quartet.
For years, starting in 2005, I [sang with] Zemer Chai, an interdenominational community choir. In 2016, we performed our 40th anniversary concert at Adas Israel because we wanted a bigger venue to be able to host what we hoped would be a big crowd.
In that performance, I was featured in a trio with Robyn Helzner and [Adas Israel’s] Cantor Arianne Brown, who then asked me, “I’m putting together a High Holiday quartet. Would you want to audition?” I got the alto part. What’s lovely about the gig is that even though I’m only down there in that community a few times a year, I feel a part of that community too because people remember the quartet; music uplifts us all and can help us tap into our spirituality.
