We LOVE Rabbi Maddy

As many of us recently found out, Rabbi Maddy will be transitioning over to work as a rabbi at Congregation B’nai B’rith at the start of next year! She has been a gift to the students of UCSB at Hillel, and we are all incredibly grateful for her dedication to our community. I recently had the privilege of sitting down with her to reflect on her time spent at Hillel and discuss her various accomplishments. In regards to one of Rabbi Maddy’s favorite memories, she fondly described getting to lead the Birthright trip in the summer of her first year. She explained that it was her first time being on the trip in the role of an educator instead of a participant and had the opportunity to form many strong connections with students, which have flourished since the trip.

Another experience she talked about was getting to lead Shabbat services with students. Rabbi Maddy discussed that at the start of her journey as a rabbi, she had been very excited and focused about things such as programming and the educational aspect of being a rabbi and less about prayer. Her time at Hillel allowed her to guide students through the process of leading a service (whether they had experience or not), and this was incredibly meaningful for her. To build off of this, Rabbi Maddy reflected by stating that she thinks the thing she is most proud of is the relationships that she has built with students.

Whether that be through providing mentorship to student leaders or through the expansion of educational opportunities, which allowed her to work with more of the Jewish students here at UCSB, this is something that she looks back on with pride. These are just a few snippets of what Rabbi Maddy has done during her almost three years at the Santa Barbara Hillel. Her work here has been extremely impactful on Jewish students. She is a remarkable human and has helped to create a space where students feel supported and seen. I personally have gotten to led Shabbat services with her on many, many occasions, and her encouragement and excitement for student involvement have truly made me feel more confident in my own leadership abilities, along with making me feel more connected to the Jewish community.

Rabbi Maddy will be dearly missed, but her new role at Congregation B’nai B’rith also holds many exciting new opportunities. She emphasized how much she loves the Santa Barbara Hillel community and that this transition to her newer role will help to immerse her in the greater Santa Barbara Jewish community, and thankfully, she still will not be too far away! Rabbi Maddy expressed her excitement to work with whole families and build connections with members of Congregation B’nai B’rith across many ages. She will get to do this through baby namings, b’nai mitzvahs, pastoral care, etc. These are things that she has gotten to do less in her time as a rabbi, and this provides her with a new opportunity to learn and grow and continue to strengthen the Jewish community! We all hold so much love in our hearts for Rabbi Maddy. She is truly so phenomenal and an inspiration to us all. Her time at Hillel has impacted students in a deeply profound and meaningful way, and we are so, so grateful. We love you, Rabbi Maddy!!!!