Our Clergy
Rabbi Leonard Gordon
Rabbi Leonard Gordon has been our spiritual leader since 2019. He served for sixteen years at the Germantown Jewish Centre, a Conservative synagogue in Philadelphia known for being "a community of communities." He was conferred the status of Rabbi Emeritus when he moved to Chestnut Hill, MA, serving as the senior rabbi at Congregation Mishkan Tefila until the congregation moved to Brookline. With rabbinic ordination and an MA from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), he has a BA and M Phil from Columbia University, and an MA in Religious Studies from Brown University. In 2018, he earned a Doctor of Ministry degree in Interfaith Studies at the Andover Newton Theological School.
Rabbi Gordon has taught comparative religion and Humanities at Columbia University, Kenyon College, and the Ohio State University; and he has taught rabbinic literature, history, philosophy, and liturgy at the JTS, the Hebrew College Rabbinicial School, the Reconstructionist Rabbinicial College, and the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. He is a popular teacher at Hebrew College's MEAH program. Among his publications, he was an editor of Mahzor Lev Shalem.
Rabbi Gordon serves on the boards of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), the Internation Jewish Committee for Interfaith Consultations (IJCIC), and the Nation Council of Synagogues (NCS). At the JCPA, he co-chairs the newly created taskforce on Jewish-Muslim relations. He has traveled to Israel with delegations of Christian and Muslim leaders, under the auspices of Interfaith Partners for Peace (an organization he co-chairs), a project of the Jewish Federations of North America's Israel Action Network.
Rabbi Gordon is passionate about building communities of meaning and connecting people to one another, to the synagogue, and to Israel. When he was on the faculty at Kenyon College, he built the small Jewish community there and was the founding director of the Havurah of Greater Columbus.
His partner, Dr. Lori Lefkovitz, holds the Ruderman Chair in Jewish Studies at Northeastern University, where she is a Professor of English and directs the Humanities Center and Jewish Studies Program. They have two adult daughters. Ronya works for the Jewish Museum in New York and will be married to Mickey Roth this January. Samara recently moved to Boston, where she works for Hyperplane, a venture capital firm.
Rabbi Gordon looks forward to getting to know the B’nai Tikvah family and encourages each of you to please be in touch to make a time to meet at the synagogue, in your home, or at a local coffee shop.
Reb Lisa Feld, Rabbinic Intern
Reb Lisa Feld is a fifth-year rabbinical student at Hebrew College who has led services and taught both religious school and adult education classes for different communities in the Boston area. She has also served as a chaplaincy intern at both Massachusetts General Hospital and Hebrew Senior Life, accompanying people through challenging experiences (and occasionally joyful ones as well!). A passionate storyteller, she is currently at work on several novels, including one about Moses, Miriam, and Aaron. She is delighted to return to B'nai Tikvah for a second year as Rabbinic Intern.
Josh Schreiber, Rabbinic/Cantorial Intern
Reb Josh was born in the Boston area, but spent his childhood on a secular kibbutz in Israel. Discovering American progressive Judaism after college in the US, he has been involved in Jewish education and prayer-leading in one capacity or another since the mid-1990s. Josh has a Masters in performance from the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, and loves to play 17th century English pop music with his band Seven Times Salt (you can find them on YouTube and Spotify!). He is also a certified teacher of the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education®, developed by Israeli physicist and martial artist Moshe Feldenkrais, and serves on the faculty of the Longy School, where he uses the Feldenkrais Method to help musicians avoid injury and find their musical voice. He has spent the last decade and more developing a unique blend of his various pursuits, combining deep mind-body awareness with the musical, spiritual, and intellectual traditions of Judaism, to create an experience he calls “Embodied Judaism.”
Josh lives in Arlington with his wife Beth, his son Noam (12), and Beth's daughter Josie (10) and nephew Aaron (20). He enjoys biking and baking with his son (ask him about his gluten free challah recipe) and making music with friends.
Josh is in his fifth and final year of the Rabbinical School at Hebrew College, and is looking forward to being ordained this coming spring!
Rabbi Loel Weiss, Rabbi Emeritus
Sun, February 5 2023
14 Shevat 5783
Upcoming Events
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Sunday ,
FebFebruary 5 , 2023Sisterhood Board Meeting
Sunday, Feb 5th 7:00p to 8:00p
Sisterhood Board Meeting -
Monday ,
FebFebruary 6 , 2023Lunch & Learn: Adult B'nai Mitzvah Class with Reb Lisa Feld
Monday, Feb 6th 12:00p to 1:00p
Lunch & Learn: Adult B'nai Mitzvah Class with Reb Lisa Feld -
Wednesday ,
FebFebruary 8 , 2023Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Gordon: Texts on Building Community
Wednesday, Feb 8th 12:00p to 1:00p
Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Gordon: Texts on Building Community -
Thursday ,
FebFebruary 9 , 2023
Thursday, Feb 9th 8:00p to 9:00p
Are you dealing with the loss of a loved one and could benefit from support? B’nai Tikvah member Lorraine Simon is leading a Grief Support Group that meets virtually twice a month. Lorraine is an experienced counselor who has led groups for over twenty years. -
Monday ,
FebFebruary 13 , 2023Lunch & Learn: Adult B'nai Mitzvah Class with Reb Lisa Feld
Monday, Feb 13th 12:00p to 1:00p
Lunch & Learn: Adult B'nai Mitzvah Class with Reb Lisa Feld -
Monday ,
FebFebruary 13 , 2023Board of Directors Meeting
Monday, Feb 13th 7:00p to 9:00p
Zoom link http://us02web.zoom.us/j/88543481950?pwd=ZHY3Y1dlczIzbWRsYVZCTlRhVHY0QT09 -
Wednesday ,
FebFebruary 15 , 2023Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Gordon: Texts on Building Community
Wednesday, Feb 15th 12:00p to 1:00p
Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Gordon: Texts on Building Community -
Thursday ,
FebFebruary 16 , 2023Adult Education Committee Meeting
Thursday, Feb 16th 8:00p to 9:00p
Adult Education Committee Meeting -
Saturday ,
FebFebruary 18 , 2023
Shabbat, Feb 18th 9:30a to 11:45a
Join B'nai Tikvah for a refreshing Shabbat alternative program. Walk with the fall foliage, the winter snow, the spring flowers, and summer streams. Strolls happen the third Shabbat of the month. Please email Janet Halpern for info. -
Monday ,
FebFebruary 20 , 2023Lunch & Learn: Adult B'nai Mitzvah Class with Reb Lisa Feld
Monday, Feb 20th 12:00p to 1:00p
Lunch & Learn: Adult B'nai Mitzvah Class with Reb Lisa Feld -
Monday ,
FebFebruary 20 , 2023
Monday, Feb 20th 8:00p to 10:00p
For more information, contact Sherry Alpert sherry@alpert-publicrelations.com -
Wednesday ,
FebFebruary 22 , 2023Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Gordon: Texts on Building Community
Wednesday, Feb 22nd 12:00p to 1:00p
Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Gordon: Texts on Building Community -
Sunday ,
FebFebruary 26 , 2023An update on the Middle East/Israel, by Matthew Sienkiewicz, presented by the Adult Education Committee
Sunday, Feb 26th 1:00p to 2:00p
An update on the Middle East/Israel, by Matthew Sienkiewicz, presented by the Adult Education Committee -
Monday ,
FebFebruary 27 , 2023Lunch & Learn: Adult B'nai Mitzvah Class with Reb Lisa Feld
Monday, Feb 27th 12:00p to 1:00p
Lunch & Learn: Adult B'nai Mitzvah Class with Reb Lisa Feld -
Tuesday ,
FebFebruary 28 , 2023
Tuesday, Feb 28th 7:00p to 9:00p
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Wednesday ,
MarMarch 1 , 2023Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Gordon: Texts on Building Community
Wednesday, Mar 1st 12:00p to 1:00p
Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Gordon: Texts on Building Community -
Saturday ,
MarMarch 4 , 2023
Shabbat, Mar 4th 10:00a to 1:00p
Mark celebratory moments in our lives on the first Shabbat of each month, sharing news of birthdays, anniversaries, accomplishments, new life in our families, and of challenges overcome—a Simcha Shabbat. -
Sunday ,
MarMarch 5 , 2023Executive Committee Meeting
Sunday, Mar 5th 9:30a to 11:00a
Zoom link http://us02web.zoom.us/j/88543481950?pwd=ZHY3Y1dlczIzbWRsYVZCTlRhVHY0QT09 -
Sunday ,
MarMarch 5 , 2023Sisterhood Board Meeting (at temple)
Sunday, Mar 5th 1:00p to 2:00p
Sisterhood Board Meeting (at temple) -
Sunday ,
MarMarch 5 , 2023Sisterhood: Queen Esther's Purim Celebration
Sunday, Mar 5th 2:00p to 5:00p
Come hear her Royal Highness dish on her own version of the Purim Story as Queen Esther welcomes the women of her kingdom to a B’nai Tikvah Purim Celebration on Sunday, March 5th at 2 PM.