Leadership: Rabbi Amy Sappowith

Nurturing Community Relationships in Loudoun County: Interview with Rabbi Amy Sappowith

Rabbi Amy Sapowith is the Rabbi at Beth Chavarim reform Congregation in Ashburn. She is both a community and interfaith leader in Loudoun County who is nurturing partnerships to contribute to positive relationships among all who live in the region. She shared some of her experiences and challenges in an interview with Ebaadah Martínez-Jaka, a Student Editor for Loudoun County Magazine.

Q: What is your biggest challenge being a rabbi?

A: I think it’s a challenge being a woman in the field. There are ongoing investigations into the struggles that Jewish women have had in the Jewish movements, especially in the Reform movement, which is sort of more conscious of these things. To the degree that it’s been an ongoing problem with the rest of the country, it’s been subtle enough that you don’t know it’s a problem until afterwards. Looking back, you think, “Why did I have that barrier, or why was that so hard?” Because you go in thinking everything’s equal, and so when something’s not, you think maybe you’ve done something wrong or you’re not doing something right. So there is probably a little bit of that, like most women feel.

But barring that, I think the biggest challenge for me is my personality. I am an introvert and an extrovert, and so sometimes it’s challenging to be in a position that is mostly dominated by extroverts while being my introverted self. It requires a certain degree of outgoing energy that gets you energized by being around other people. And for me that gets draining and I have to put the barriers away. I need to recharge differently.

Q: How do you want Loudoun residents to see you?

A: In Loudoun County we are the only Reform congregation, so we call ourselves an outpost of Judaism and Jewish life in this part of Northern Virginia. In that respect, we help our Jewish members to live Jewish. You can do it alone, you can do it with some influence from online, but Judaism is meant to be lived in person with a community. Personally, my goal is to represent a certain ability to hear people with different opinions, different life stories, different priorities, and to be trusted to be able to see the humanity in everybody without being polarized. I don’t want to be seen as somebody just on this side or just on that side. I would prefer to be seen as somebody that can be counted on to be a mediator or peacemaker in that sense. Even though I might have certain opinions at least one way or the other, I would like to be seen in the way I see myself: as being able to hear and respect, and trying to maintain relationships across so many different worldviews.

Q: What is an example of when you felt disrespected?

A: Being a woman, sometimes I feel in some of the movements, whether it’s Jewish, Muslim, or Christian, women are not afforded the same status. We just can’t be heard. Then I have the added liability of being in the LGBTQ community, being bisexual, and who would know that since I’m with a woman? If my being bisexual becomes known, their barriers come up. I do feel the disrespect that comes with that kind of discrimination and it can come from anywhere. It’s mostly not

being heard in a dialogue, or you’re not reached out to. I can understand not being reached out to because we’re a small synagogue, because some people may be looking for a synagogue that has more outreach to a larger community. And in that case it’s, well then maybe you want to talk to somebody who has a bigger synagogue. Sometimes it feels like the setting I’m in, it’s the woman thing. I don’t know if it’s also being in the LGBTQ community, because that’s only if they know. Even in the Interfaith Clergy Group, there are certain pastors whose movement does not allow them to talk with people in the LGBTQ community for support in a formal way. Sometimes I feel disrespected by that. But I also look at that differently because I do understand why people have trouble with it. I do feel like there’s a level of disrespect but I don’t know that it’s meant to be disrespectful. I think it’s more like a lack about how humanity can be. The woman thing, I think, is more about justice and respect. Because at this point, you have your mother, your sister, your daughter, and if you’re not giving them the equal time of day, then that’s just disrespect. You could apply the same logic to the LGBTQ community if your daughter or whoever is a part of that community, but it is a smaller community.

Q: What is your most important value, and how does it correspond with what your religion has taught you?

A: One of the biggest ones is the idea of debate. That’s what has always attracted me and intrigued me about Judaism. I see our traditions and our sacred texts as sacred arguments. Debate is an ability that implies there is a freedom of thought, and some boundaries, in the encouragement of questioning. That is a respect and understanding of freedom in the sensuality of debate, which means more than one point of view is delivered in a respectful way in order to understand a broader truth. Nobody has the full truth. We all have partial truth as individuals and as communities, and we need to work together to contribute what we know to be true in order to find something greater. It’s not to say that you can’t have our smaller areas where we get to live out the truth as we see them. But when we come to solve bigger issues and communal issues, we need to be able to have these conversations in respectful ways to arrive at broader truths that are bigger than any single one of us. That’s the foundational value I see. In Judaism, that presents hope for our communities. But that’s one that seems high on my list as it’s central to the tradition; especially given the times we live in, or anytime in history. Even within the Jewish community, we don’t live up to that. We need to do just as much work in that area as interfaith and secular communities, because human beings are not good at this.

Q: What interfaith partnerships do you have with the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) and the Christian Fellowship Church (CFC)?

A: I inherited those wonderful relationships. We’re looking forward to renewing some activities with ADAMS, and we hosted a vaccination clinic with ADAMS recently. CFC moved somewhere else because of COVID, and I’m not sure where that part of the ABC [ADAMS, Beth Chaverim, and CFC], as we call ourselves, is headed. On that level, there’s a camaraderie that comes with being neighbors. I look forward to some more programs, both educational and social. In that regard, I’ve been in touch with the imam from ADAMS on a number of different occasions, and I look forward to working on more programs with him. One great effort was when we worked with Pastor Michelle from the Loudoun Interfaith Clergy Group in putting together a car caravan to local African-American sites for a tour.

I think it’s important that we as a community are continually aware of, and educating ourselves about, our history here — African-American history specifically, and all American history. I have appreciated the support we’ve gotten in times when the Jewish community, thankfully not us specifically, but the Jewish community either in Virginia, Pittsburgh, or Poway were attacked. When certain crises come up, acts of violence or injustice, it’s important to know that we can count on each other to show support. It has been part of what we do, what I do, and what I will continue to do.

Maria Brito is a visual artist who moved to the US 21 years ago and Loudoun 10 years ago from Venezuela. Her paintings and collages have been described by her mentors as “a mixture of modern impressionism, fantasy and nature, the use of overlapped figures, and oneiric images.” She often depicts plants, animals, and other life found in nature. Brito recently had two exhibitions displayed at Brambleton Library in Ashburn titled “In Contact with Planet Earth” and “Look What I Found in my Garden.” I recently interviewed Brito to discuss her work.

In your own words, how would you describe your art? I think it’s kind of unique in the way I express nature. Mostly all of my plants, even my collage, [are] from my imagination and not copying the reality outside. I have this feeling for the vibrancy in nature, but these images came from myself.

What first got you interested in being an artist? Since I was a child, I liked to draw and paint, so [art] was with me my whole life. While I was studying architecture, I was still interested in that. I used to take some of the subjects in my career in how to deal with art, too. And, even when I graduated, I continued my studies in Visual Arts, Cultural Heritage, and Museography. I grew up in a house with a lot of paintings because my father used to display and sell art from Venezuela and [other] Impressionist artists. To look at all these paintings [was] like having a mini gallery in my home. My mother was a painter too.

How does your upbringing/your culture reflect in your art? I think I can reflect with color. I noticed when I moved from my country, especially here, that the use of color in art is different. The Hispanic culture expresses a lot of vibrancy with more strong colors like red, yellow, blue, maybe more “pure” colors. The other thing is this interaction, in my case, with plants and nature. I grew up in a house with an interior garden. It had two patios with plants, one in the kitchen and one on the back of the house. The plant’s house was everywhere. Many houses in Venezuela are open to what is happening outside. In our country, in Venezuela, the houses are open so the air flows inside and you can see nature. You can feel it. You can smell the plants, too. In my case, because I have this connection with part of this culture with the garden plants, and even the fruit trees–we have a lot of fruit trees–they are reflected in my artwork.

That’s really cool, how there’s gardens everywhere. Yeah yeah, it’s hard for me. For like a year [when I moved], I was like, “Where is a garden with flowers?” Another thing that was difficult to understand at first here is why, when people have these gardens and I have my garden, I couldn’t see the butterflies around or the bees. And this is because of this excess of pesticides here that we don’t have in my country. I used to play with the grasshoppers, butterflies, cicadas, and the bees, so I was missing these. We are connected to, in a certain way, to nature.

Do you have any favorite childhood memories that you remember? Being outside in the garden is one of the happiest [memories]. The other one is [sharing time] with family that I miss a lot because I don’t have my family here. And more than the childhood, is a memory of the time [and] the weather in my country and the blue skies. I miss it a lot. It’s warm; it’s a warm country.

Maria Brito standing next to “In Contact with Planet Earth” displayed in Brambleton Library

Is there anyone in particular that you get your inspiration from? Not really. My mom was a painter, and it was so common for me since I was child to look at her painting, but I don’t know if I can call this like an inspiration. I see art as ways of expression, you know, now that I grew up. Some certain people want to talk,

certain people want to make videos and make movies, and other people just paint; and this expression of your insides [makes] you feel good. You have this feeling that you need to do something with your hands. You’re kind of putting your feelings on your canvas.

So, I guess, in a way, you would say that you’re inspired by yourself? Yeah. I could have some inspiration from my mom and from all the paintings that were displayed in my parents house, but they were very common to me. So, more than that, it was these feelings, I mean, that made me draw and paint since I was a child. country, Venezuela, for five years. What made me close was the suffering there. It’s just a repressive regime that is [oppressive] to the part of the population who don’t want to follow and, you know, it is hard. And then, with my artwork, in [a] certain way, I’ve been like an environmental activist too because I [had] this feeling about the importance of nature since I [was] a child.

I’m very sensitive to what happens around me with the forest, with the plants, you know. For example, it’s happening in Loudoun. The deforestation is going so fast that it hurts me, and I even was involved, this year, in one of the causes here to save a river. Some housing development was going to destroy and pollute the river. [The Loudoun Board of Supervisors] didn’t realize that the people [were] going to get together. I kind of move the people in a certain way. I used social media, and the hashtag #SaveGooseCreek [which I placed] on my car as well. Maybe people [were] looking at this weirdo with the car with the #SaveGooseCreek but when they [Googled it], they could find [out] what was happening. People worked together. And it was good. I felt so good about what I did. It was a little stressful but we did it; we saved the river.

Now, I’m trying to make people aware in the county [that] suddenly–I don’t know why–the supervisors said, right now, that we need more housing and [some supervisors] are making zoning changes and not respecting any more of these natural areas. So, people have to be aware of that. We cannot let every green area or forests or little pieces of forest [be] left to be destroyed. We can develop the county and the housing in a different way to respect

Do you have a favorite piece of art in this exhibition [“In Contact with Planet Earth” or “Look What I Found in my Garden” displayed in Brambleton Library] or that you’ve just done ever? I exhibited [this artwork shown to the right] in a gallery recently in Venezuela–Maracaibo is the city. This, at that time, [felt] like the most important painting I made, and it’s one of the biggest that I have done. I don’t know why [but] it’s like a treasure for me. I don’t know if I could [make] it again. And it’s like when I see it now I see the movement; I see life. And I think I was working with art Leaves and Memories. 1999. Acrylic paint on canvas. therapies at one time in a workshop and then I discovered that maybe the holes [in the leaves painted] had to be with something in my life. Everything is reflected in a painting, a certain way, that from itself. So, at this time, these holes mean many things, I believe. You call yourself an “artist-activist.” What causes are close to you? I was a human rights activist for my

nature, and there is a way to do it. I’m an architect, and I know I can do it in a different way. So, if people work with that, they don’t have to destroy so much.

Do you have any websites or organizations or something you just want to tell the readers of the magazine about your activism? I use social media a lot because people are getting informed right now through social media, and it’s even easier than [going] door to door telling people what is happening and calling people. You just put [it] in social media and create the hashtag. Especially in Facebook, there are a lot of Loudoun community groups. So you can send the information to all these Loudoun community groups–I managed to do this–and then people read and learn about something that can happen to a green area in the county. magazines some years ago. I love it: cooking and writing. And when I graduated, I [had] some certification about inventory and research on cultural heritage in my country, so I relate that with the gastronomy, with food. So, these sites I have about Venezuelan food have a research tool that is free for the public. Every recipe has historical research that talks about where this kind of food or plate came [from] and how it took some characteristics from my country and ideas from my country. So this was one of my hobbies. Still, I like to cook a lot. Gardening, too. I love plants. Right now, I like butterfly gardens. I’m trying to do my gardens without pesticides, with native plants and flowers.

Do you have any advice for upcoming artists or activists? I believe, as I told you, that art is not just the decorative stuff, just to be placed to decorate a space. I believe that the artists have things to say through the artwork. And the artists and activists, they can show some of their feelings about the cause they are following or a message. It is a good opportunity to give a message to the people who like to observe the art. It’s not all only color and figures or something to decorate the wall. It’s more than that; there is something that you can say through that. So if people have the opportunity and have a cause inside, inside the person that want to talk to the public, they can use this art to do that. And there are several, many I think, artists that are doing this right now. I have a cousin in New York that is passionate about political and human rights issues, and when she paints, it’s about that. It’s very strong. You can do very strong things with activism and art.

I was very grateful to talk to Maria Brito Visual Artist. For more information, visit mabvisualartist.com and on Instagram @mabvisualartist. Brito also currently has art on sale at Annemarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center (13470 Dowell Rd. Solomons, MD 20688) available until January 1, 2022.

Do you ever listen to music while you’re painting? No, I like silence. I love silence. I don’t need it. I don’t know. I cannot be connected with the noise. Even when I walk–I like to hike–there [are] people that like to put the airpods with the music. I cannot do it. I need to be connected with [what] is around me and the sound of the planet. No, not the music. I like music sometimes, and I [liked] this more when I A Portrait of Me. 2021. Collage on canvas. was younger, but right now I prefer silence. Are you reading any books right now or watching any shows? No. Sometimes I watch, the type you know, maybe the romantic stuff, these things. I graduated as an architect, so I like design. Right now, I’m looking at one about houses, in other countries especially. The architecture is different than here.

I heard you mentioned you like to go hiking. Do you have any other hobbies that you like, besides hiking? I like cooking, and I used to write about Venezuela and gastronomy, the typical foods. I had a website, and even some of this writing was published in some digital 24