The following is a guest blog from Rabbi Elizabeth Wood of the Reform Temple of Forest Hills in Queens, NY. Follow her on Twitter: @lizwood1982 and please share this post with anyone you think might be interested in the Empowering Ruth program.

Many people who are interested in Judaism come seeking answers about what Judaism is or how to learn more about it. When someone has made the decision to become Jewish, they may know a lot of the FAQs and the logistics of Judaism. But how do you teach someone how to begin a Jewish journey? How to live a Jewish life? How to feel comfortable living a tradition that you have chosen?

That is why I am so excited about this program, Empowering Ruth. It is a free program brought to us by the Jewish Outreach Institute (JOI) and is aimed at women who have already converted to Judaism. It is open to the whole community and being taught at the Reform Temple of Forest Hills on Tuesday nights at 7:30, October 18 - March 27.

Come join us and discover the many paths and ways to be Jewish, both in your home and out in the world. Come learn new and exciting elements of Judaism with more in-depth study. Partner with other women in our community and around the country to begin having some deep and meaningful conversations about what it means to be a woman who has chosen Judaism.

If you or someone you know is interested, please contact me (Rabbi Elizabeth Wood) at rabbiwood@rtfh.org to learn more or sign up. I look forward to seeing you there and learning more with you!

We have just concluded the first round of fall holidays, and will be readying ourselves on Wednesday night for another week of Jewish holidays. According to tradition, as soon as we break fast at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, we are to initiate the building of our sukkah (although depending on the way the calendar works each year, many Jewish institutions build their sukkot before Yom Kippur even starts). Admittedly, the Jewish religious calendar is quite complicated. Thus, it presents an additional barrier to entry for those new to Jewish life and the Jewish community, irrespective of their backgrounds. Those of us who have been immersed in Jewish life for many years take it all in stride. But I like to look at these issues from the perspective of a newcomer—so that we can all learn from his/her experience. I also like to take into consideration the religious aesthetic involved, since so many historical choices were made for this reason, as well.

It is bad enough that there are four new years in the Jewish calendar. Because we live in sync with the secular calendar, we expect Rosh Hashanah to be akin to January 1. But Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the religious new year, not the count-off of the calendar. For the latter, we have to wait until the spring. What puzzles newcomers—and I have thought about this a great deal—is why, then, does Yom Kippur come after Rosh Hashanah? Wouldn’t it make more sense for a day of atonement to come before the beginning of a new year, not 10 days after its initiation?

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