36 Rabbis Shaping 21st-Century Judaism
“My father was a composer and a combat veteran of World War II; he had crippling PTSD all his life. When he died of Alzheimer’s disease, I was new to the synagogue, and Rabbi Mark didn’t know my family at all. But he spent a lot time with my mother, sister and me, coming to…
“I cannot drive to the synagogue I served as rabbi for 10 years. It is about 15 miles from my home in Falmouth, Maine. I slipped on the ice outside that synagogue on December 13, 2009, and sustained a traumatic brain injury. I will most likely never be able to work as a rabbi again….
“I never found a spiritual home (not for lack of trying!) until I met Rabbi Schnitzer and Bethesda Jewish Congregation. When my son (3 years old at the time) saw a Star Wars Pez collection in Schnitzer’s office, the rabbi encouraged him to check them out. He scrambled up into the big desk chair on…
“I will never forget when Rabbi Kensky spoke from the bimah and explained why he became a rabbi. He said that he loves to study Jewish text and serve the Jewish people, but more than anything else, he wants his rabbinate to be about comforting people. I cannot find words to describe how moved I…
“For me and hundreds of other teens, Rabbi Donny was an inspirational guide through the madness of high school. Before Donny, I pictured rabbis as old, distant men making boring speeches at Shabbat services and the High Holy Days. Donny worked tirelessly to create a multitude of opportunitie that would engage high school students. Whether…
“When our daughter, Karen, died 12 years ago, Rabbi Kravitz helped us find a meaningful way to honor her memory — by establishing the Keren Or Creative Arts Forum to encourage artistic activities of Jewish youth in Minnesota. He has been a source of great comfort to us in our time of loss. On a…
“I had faced anti-Semitism at a young age, which resulted in me considering myself atheist. Upon going to college, I registered for a Jewish studies course with Rabbi Shreibman at Sonoma State University, with the intention of dropping. I ended up falling in love with Judaism, reconnecting myself to the Jewish community and traveling to…
“Rabbi Allouche walked 10 miles to my father’s home on Sukkot to provide us with comfort and counsel when my mother passed away. I don’t know if the 10 miles were made longer in that the destination was a house of mourning or shorter because he carried Torah with him. Along the way he has…
“My rabbi is a gay man who was raised in a traditional Jewish community in a fairly conservative part of the country. He has been a model for how to have difficult conversations about deeply personal, painful things, and for how to speak my truth calmly and clearly. He has freed me from fear of…
“As a young Jewish adult who was engaged in Jewish activities throughout high school and college, I moved back to my hometown of Dallas five years ago and began searching for a fresh, innovative and spiritually moving Jewish community. Unfortunately, it didn’t exist. Then, six months ago, Makom — a project of Shearith Israel founded…
“Rabbi Bachman’s inspiring leadership has been most apparent to me in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. When our Representative, Brad Lander, called to see if Congregation Beth Elohim would be willing to provide meals to homeless victims of the storm being housed in our local shelter, Andy said “YES!” and never looked back. Under his…
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