Rabbi Olivier BenHaim
Rabbi O left the corporate world to become the best rabbi I’ve ever had. He is an incredible teacher, and has made this 77-year-old science nerd a lover of history, and achieved the impossible: I now meditate most mornings! He married my partner and me two years ago, and when marriage equality passed in Washington he held another short ceremony to make it legal. Torah study is a delight as we try to apply it to getting ”unstuck“ in our daily lives. We are a small community, 104 families, but almost all our members attend services. A little teaching, a little music, a little meditation — doesn’t get better than that! And you haven’t lived until you’ve heard the story of Purim done by your rabbi impersonating Elvis!
— Carol Cohen and one other
A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren
We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.
With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.
— Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief