Grace Lile has been a member of Kolot Chayeinu since 2003. Although not Jewish, and raised in a secular home, Grace had become drawn to Judaism through several years of reading, study, and explorations into Jewish meditation. With a Jewish partner, and as the mother of two young sons, she sought an intentional and communal context in which they could engage with and give voice to questions of meaning and purpose together, as a family. After speaking with Rabbi Ellen Lippmann they knew they’d found the right place.

Grace has served on the Kolot board and on a variety of committees and working groups; currently she serves on the Membership Engagement Committee, the Oral History Project Team, and as a regular shamas on Shabbat. Having observed Kolot’s internal struggles with issues of Israel-Palestine, in 2013 she became active in Palestine solidarity work, especially through Jewish Voice for Peace, for which she served as Board Chair from 2015 – 2019. 

Grace is an archivist and nonprofit organizational development consultant.  She and her husband Arthur live in Brooklyn and see their now-adult sons often.

In this interview, Grace describes her path to Kolot, tracing her interest in Judaism following a non-religious upbringing. She talks about finding a spiritual practice while in recovery, exploring Jewish thought and practice through reading and ritual, and the joy of finding Kolot, and guiding her children towards finding their own paths.

Grace discusses her decision not to convert and her experience as a non-Jew at Kolot, serving on the board and as a leader in Jewish Voice for Peace. She talks about how her work in the non-profit world solidified her commitment to building Kolot as an open-tent community around Israel-Palestine.

Listen to: Grace’s interview with Laura Tanenbaum