
Between Chaos and Light: Birthing a Child, Birthing Ourselves
Be brave and willing to be present to the moment — untamed, treacherous and holy.
Chloe Zelkha is the rabbi at Congregation Eitz Chayim, a pluralistic independent shul in Cambridge, MA. Previously, she worked as an educator and community organizer at organizations like JOIN for Justice, The Food Project and Urban Adamah. Chloe trained as a chaplain in UCSF Mission Bay Hospital’s residency program, where she primarily served the NICU and adult oncology units. She was a co-founder of the Covid Grief Network–now a project of Reimagine–an organization supporting young adults who lost loved ones to COVID-19. She holds a bachelor’s degree in religion from Carleton College, a master’s degree in education from Harvard University and ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where she was a Wexner Graduate Fellow.

Be brave and willing to be present to the moment — untamed, treacherous and holy.

God is the ground of being, the truth that we so often run away from or delude ourselves about.

“Grief is a breaking,” the tradition seems to say, “so instead of turning away from it, why not make it visible?” Why not break something that you can hold, wear, see?