In the Jewish Scriptures, Hannah’s faith in God brings about the birth of her child, the prophet Samuel. In the Christian Scriptures, Mary responds in faith to the news that she will be the mother of Jesus. The two women express their thanks in prayer – Hannah’s Prayer (1 Samuel 2:1-10) and the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). In this presentation, Rabbi Andrea Goldstein and Mark Etling will discuss these two remarkably similar prayers and the women who spoke them.

Rabbi Andrea Goldstein received her undergraduate degree in Communications Studies from Northwestern University and was ordained from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1998. In May of 2023, Rabbi Goldstein earned her Doctor of Ministry from HUC-JIR. She has served as rabbi at Congregation Shaare Emeth, the largest Reform synagogue in St. Louis, for the past 28 years, and in 2028 she will become the congregation’s first female Senior Rabbi. In 2018, Rabbi Goldstein became the founder and director of the Jewish Mindfulness Center of St. Louis.

Rabbi Goldstein’s rabbinate is centered around the call for social justice, the cultivation of spiritual practices, and the creation of sacred community. Rabbi Goldstein is married to Brett Goldstein and is the proud mother of Macey, Eli, and Lila.

Mark Etling, PhD, teaches theology at Saint Louis University’s School for Professional Studies. He also gives presentations on Scripture and Christian history at the Shrine, for Oasis-St. Louis and at various parishes in the St. Louis and Belleville dioceses. Mark and his wife Alicia live in the Lafayette Square neighborhood in St. Louis.