Book excerpt: This rabbi gig. People have no idea what it's all about. The Rabbi Finds Her Way follows Pearl Ross-Levy's first two years as associate rabbi at a large Reform congregation in California. This compelling, inspiring, and often funny narrative weaves the experiences and insights that shape the young rabbi as she finds her way through the challenges of her profession. We see Pearl's lifelong friendship with a high school classmate—the victim of a serious car accident—evolve as it opens her eyes to the world of religion. And whether she's discussing women's rights in the Bible with a bat mitzvah student, meeting the man she'll soon marry, encouraging a congregant with Alzheimer's to tell a joke whose punch line he's forgotten, or struggling with the anguish of a man who believes he's unwittingly committed a murder, Pearl reveals her intelligence, empathy, grit, and humor. The Rabbi's strength and faith grow as she continues to see that God does, indeed, work in strange ways.