How Hillel at UCLA Moved beyond Tolerance to Embrace Difference
The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles announced Thursday the hiring of Rabbi Aaron Lerner, executive director of Hillel at UCLA, as its next president and CEO. Lerner will take over the new post Jan. 2, succeeding Marvin I. Schotland, who has led the foundation since 1989 and will retire...
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Rabbi Kyle Savitch (’21) Holds Both Jewish Tradition and Modern Sensibilities in His Hands with Kehillat Harlem
“They want to make the most amount of people comfortable without sacrificing traditions.”
Learn about Rabbi Kyle Savitch’s innovative and maximally inclusive work building the Harlem Orthodox community—and the $100,000 grant he got to do it.
Jason Mark (’22), rabbi at Congregation Etz Chayim, observes High Holidays in Toledo
Death and dying are persistent themes for Rabbi Jason Mark. He’s a full-time hospital chaplain in West Virginia, and reflected on the themes in preparation for the Jewish New Year in late September. He again brought those spiritual questions with him on his 4 1/2-hour drive from Morgantown, W.Va., to...
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Rabbi Aaron Lerner (’13) Selected as Next President and CEO of Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles
The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles announced Thursday the hiring of Rabbi Aaron Lerner, executive director of Hillel at UCLA, as its next president and CEO. Lerner will take over the new post Jan. 2, succeeding Marvin I. Schotland, who has led the foundation since 1989 and will retire...
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Synagogue Teshuva
By Rabbi Jonathan Leener for eJewishPhilanthropy For many American Jews, the synagogue is totally irrelevant. As an institution, the synagogue is often viewed as being sterile and unwelcoming. Authenticity and inclusivity are not often associated with synagogue life. Membership decline and building closures are now commonplace. We could use COVID-19...
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Jewish Journal- Rabbis of LA | Rabbi Aaron Finkelstein: The Educator With a Pastoral Focus
Kylie Ora Lobell One day, a shepherd was tending his flock, and he became thirsty. As he was drinking, he saw something simple that would change his life forever. There were small drops of water hitting a large rock, and a deep indentation in the stone where the water fell. ...
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#YCTInnovators: Kyle Savitch (’21) Is Helping Lead the Growing Orthodox Community of Harlem
Kyle Savitch (’21), far right, learning and teaching Torah in Harlem. Kyle Savitch graduated from YCT in May 2021. Now, he is directing his energies full-time toward Kehillat Harlem, his grassroots Jewish community, where he serves as the rabbi. He will be helping build the Harlem Jewish community thanks to...
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I’m a Rabbi With Mental Illness and I’m Done Trying to Hide My Pain
By Rabbi Avram Mlotek (’15), for Alma. Content warning: suicidal ideation I live with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. As a rabbi, cantor, actor and author, that’s not how I usually introduce myself. But this summer I spent three and a half weeks at an in-patient facility tending to...
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Jewish Daily Forward: A Chicago Orthodox rabbi reaches out to his Rohingya and Black neighbors
By Joshua Flanders Read the original story in the Jewish Daily Forward here. In Chicago’s large Orthodox Jewish community, Rabbi Ari Hart stands out. As a leader at Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue in Skokie, Illinois, Hart focuses on the roles of women within their community, inclusion of LGBTQ individuals,...
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Why Being a Rabbi Led Me to Participate in the Novavax Vaccine Trial
By Rabbi Uri Topolosky (’05), for Washington Jewish Week For two years in a row, our congregation has concluded Yom Kippur under the stars — this past year due to COVID, and the year before after a 3-year-old boy pulled the fire alarm with 20 minutes left in Neilah. Both...
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