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, May 28 2023
8 Sivan 5783
Upcoming Events
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Monday ,
MayMay 29 , 2023
Monday, May 29th 9:00a to 3:00p
OFFICE CLOSED -
Saturday ,
JunJune 3 , 2023
Shabbat, Jun 3rd 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. -
Saturday ,
JunJune 3 , 2023
Shabbat, Jun 3rd 3:00p to 5:00p
Bat Mitzvah of Sasha & Summer Goldberg -
Sunday ,
JunJune 4 , 2023
Sunday, Jun 4th 9:30a to 12:00p
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Monday ,
JunJune 5 , 2023Sisterhood Board Meeting
Monday, Jun 5th 8:00p to 10:00p
Sisterhood Board Meeting -
Thursday ,
JunJune 8 , 2023
Thursday, Jun 8th 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. -
Sunday ,
JunJune 11 , 2023Adult Ed Movie Night
Sunday, Jun 11th 8:00p to 10:00p
Adult Ed Movie Night -
Monday ,
JunJune 12 , 2023Board of Directors Meeting
Monday, Jun 12th 7:00p to 9:00p
Zoom link http://us02web.zoom.us/j/88543481950?pwd=ZHY3Y1dlczIzbWRsYVZCTlRhVHY0QT09 -
Thursday ,
JunJune 15 , 2023Adult Education Committee Meeting
Thursday, Jun 15th 8:00p to 9:00p
Adult Education Committee Meeting -
Saturday ,
JunJune 17 , 2023
Shabbat, Jun 17th 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 ,
JunJune 19 , 2023
Monday, Jun 19th 8:00p to 10:00p
For more information, contact Sherry Alpert sherry@alpert-publicrelations.com -
Sunday ,
JunJune 25 , 2023Sisterhood: Mah Jongg Fun Day
Sunday, Jun 25th 10:00a to 3:00p
Sisterhood: Mah Jongg Fun Day -
Tuesday ,
JunJune 27 , 2023
Tuesday, Jun 27th 7:00p to 9:00p
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Tuesday ,
AugAugust 29 , 2023Sisterhood Opening Program
Tuesday, Aug 29th 6:30p to 8:30p
Sisterhood Opening Program -
Tuesday ,
SepSeptember 12 , 2023
Tuesday, Sep 12th 3:45p to 5:45p
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Saturday ,
SepSeptember 16 , 2023
Shabbat, Sep 16th 10:30a to 12:30p
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Sunday ,
SepSeptember 17 , 2023
Sunday, Sep 17th 10:30a to 12:30p
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Tuesday ,
SepSeptember 19 , 2023
Tuesday, Sep 19th 3:45a to 5:45p
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Saturday ,
SepSeptember 23 , 2023
Shabbat, Sep 23rd 9:30a to 12:00p
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Monday ,
SepSeptember 25 , 2023
Monday, Sep 25th 10:30a to 12:30p