Rabbi Chanina said: “I have learned . . . from my students most of all.” (Babylonian Talmud Ta’anit 7a)

I am extremely grateful for the quality and vibrancy of the men and women I teach at the MJTI School of Jewish Studies. I like to talk about them because they are examples of men and women who are gripped by the hunger to study Jewishly and to be more effective in serving the body of Messiah.

When I teach online, most of my students start out as strangers to me. Fortunately, our graduate courses are all seminars (maximum twelve students), and the uniqueness of each student starts to come across right away. I would like to introduce one of these students. In order to preserve her privacy, I’ll call her “Marcela.”

Marcela was born, raised, and lives in Brazil. She is an MD, with Medical Residence in General Surgery and Dermatology. She is also a published poet. Marcela has Sefardic Jewish heritage, with ancestors from Portugal, Spain, and Turkey. At some point in the distant past, the family became Christians. But, to this day, many in her extended family maintain Jewish practices inherited from their Sephardic past.