Shalom! I look forward to guiding you on this powerful, personal journey. I often joke that I have been a part of every denomination and “played every position” on the “rabbi baseball team,” including pulpit rabbi, cantor, chaplain, and educator, during my long rabbinic career. While I was raised Reform, I studied in Orthodox and Hassidic circles. I was ordained at Reconstructing Judaism; however, Jewish Renewal Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi of blessed memory deeply influenced my mystical side. I also studied Buddhism and Eastern religions, and I am a Reiki Master Healer who regularly practices yoga, meditation, and Tai Chi.

Currently, I am the spiritual leader of Mt. Sinai Congregation in Cheyenne, Wyo., after fifteen years as a State of California chaplain. Having lived in Israel, I am fluent in conversational, literary, and Biblical Hebrew. As a singer, guitarist, and percussionist, I have traveled and performed in Spain, Brazil, Italy, and Mexico, so I speak Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Yiddish and sing in Russian and Arabic.  Some of my hobbies include swimming, cycling, snorkeling and scuba diving, hiking, and organic gardening, and Let There Be Light, my album of healing chants, is used by healers worldwide.

Jewishness is different from other faiths that demand acceptance of a belief system first and above all else; rather, the paramount question for you is, “Do I feel like I belong with this People?” On this journey, you will integrate your Jewish identity with your previous life experiences, as you choose to belong to a People, behave by following rituals and traditions, and finally, believe in a God of your understanding. People have referred to me as “a midwife for their soul,” if you feel you want to be a part of this People, I stand ready to support your journey. Together we will navigate and integrate mind, heart, body, and soul, and as Rabbi Hillel said to the curious seeker, “the rest is commentary; now go and study.”