How Does a Lawyer Become a Rabbi?

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In a special five-episode mini-season of Working, we talk with people who have had “second acts”—that is, people who made a dramatic career pivot at some point in their working lives.

Nicole Auerbach worked as an attorney for 10 years, first as a federal public defender in the Southern District of New York and then as a media lawyer specializing in First Amendment issues. Realizing she was unhappy in that career, she was drawn to become a rabbi and is now director of congregational engagement at New York’s Central Synagogue. Auerbach talks about how she decided to attend rabbinical school, the challenges that making a career switch presented, and what she likes best about her new line of work.

You can email us at working@slate.com. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.