With our 2025 Ordination-Graduation ceremony approaching, we are highlighting members of the graduating class. Click here to see all of the posts in this series.
Today we’re talking with Rabbinic Ordinee Daniel Boaz Martin Betzel, JD.
“As a rabbi, I aspire to cultivate sacred connections—helping people feel seen, valued, and never alone.”
– Daniel Betzel
1) With the ceremony approaching, what emotions are you feeling?
Gratitude, excitement, and a touch of trepidation and melancholy—gratitude for the incredible experiences, inspiring classmates, dedicated faculty, and profound personal growth; excitement for the next chapter of my journey; and melancholy as I prepare to leave this transformative and deeply meaningful chapter behind.
2) What is one learning from your Academy experience that you will take with you after graduation?
Stripping away the masks we all wear and meeting others with authenticity and vulnerability is not just an act of courage—it is a sacred way of being in service to others.
3) Is there anything you learned at AJRCA that truly surprised you?
Now that I am graduating, I feel as though I finally have enough knowledge and experience to apply to rabbinical school! I wish I had known at the beginning what I now know—that learning is an ongoing, evolving process, and that growth happens in ways you cannot anticipate. Learning will continue long after graduation.
4) If you could go back in time and tell your pre-AJRCA self one thing, what would that be?
Relax more. Enjoy the journey. Take the classes that call to you, not just the ones required for graduation—they will enrich your soul, your life, and your rabbinate in ways you never imagined.
Congratulations Daniel!