Rabbi Yaakov Thompson, Convert Who Met First Jew in College, Dies at 61
— Yaakov Thompson, a popular Conservative rabbi in South Florida who was born Protestant and converted to Judaism in college, died suddenly at 61.
Thompson’s family said the rabbi died of a heart attack on July 6.
Born Rick Thompson and raised in St. Mary’s, Ohio, the future rabbi never met a Jewish person until college at Ohio State University, the Sun-Sentinel of Broward and Palm Beach counties reported.
“I had been studying a lot about religion and ancient history, and then as I learn more and more about Judaism, I discovered it as a faith I wanted to live by, not just study or learn about,” he told the Forum newspaper in 2010.
After college Thompson studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York and Israel. After 20 years as a New Yorker, he moved to Florida and joined Temple Beth Israel in Sunrise in 1996. He served as its rabbi from 2005 through 2011.
He then took the post as rabbi at the Cuban Hebrew Congregation of Miami Beach.
“They loved him,” his wife, Sarah, said of his congregants.
”He treated me like a queen,” she added.
Thompson also had a love of rock music and played guitar, posting his original music and a schedule of live performances to his website, radioyaakov.
Along with his wife, he is survived by his daughter, Adina, and son, Benyamin.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO