Rabbi Toba Spitzer
Rabbi Toba Spitzer
Rabbi Toba Spitzer has served Congregation Dorshei Tzedek since she was ordained in 1997 at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC).
Rabbi Spitzer is a popular teacher of courses on Judaism and economic justice, Reconstructionist Judaism, new approaches to thinking about God, and the practice of integrating Jewish spiritual and ethical teachings into daily life. She served as the President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association from 2007-2009, and was the first LGBTQ rabbi to head a national rabbinic organization. Rabbi Spitzer has received the honor of being included in Newsweek’s Top 50 Rabbis in America 2008 list, the 2008 Forward 50 list, as well as the 2010 Forward list of 50 Female Rabbis Who Are Making A Difference. She currently serves as President of the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis.
Rabbi Spitzer has been involved for many years in American Jewish efforts to help foster a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as work in the U.S. for economic and social justice. She serves on the Board of Truah: The Rabbnic Call for Human Rights, and was a founding member of the Advisory Board of J Street. Rabbi Spitzer has a special interest in Jewish approaches to economic justice and the mindful use of money in daily life. Rabbi Spitzer’s writings on process theology, Judaism and social justice, and explorations of Biblical texts have been published in The Reconstructionist Journal and in the anthology Torah Queeries: Weekly Commentaries on the Hebrew Bible. While a student at RRC, she organized a rabbinic delegation to Haiti to serve as human rights witnesses during the military junta. The trip and resulting Haitian-Jewish seder are described in her article “Of Haiti and Horseradish”, in The Narrow Bridge: Jewish Views on Multiculturalism, edited by Marla Brettschneider.
Click here to see Rabbi Spitzer’s divrei torah for the High Holy Days. Rabbi Spitzer is a devoted and relatively patient Red Sox fan and also has a life goal of bowling in all 50 states. She has 32 down so far!
Rabbi Spitzer is now blogging at the Huffington Post and ON Scripture – The Torah, produced in collaboration with Odyssey Networks and Hebrew College. You can also read her blog posts here.
You can contact Rabbi Toba Spitzer by email at rabbi@dorsheitzedek.org.
Sat, 23 March 2019
Upcoming Events
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Saturday
Mar 23Shabbat Morning Service
Saturday, Mar 23rd 9:45a to 12:00p
Please join us for musical, participatory, weekly Shabbat Morning Services, beginning at 9:45am. For people of all backgrounds and levels of Jewish experience. Services will be followed by a kiddush lunch. Childcare is available. All are welcome. *Rabbi Toba off -
Sunday
Mar 24Religious School Gr. 1-7
Sunday, Mar 24th 9:30a to 12:00p
Meets at Jewish Community Day School, 57 Stanley Avenue, Watertown, MA -
Sunday
Mar 24Talking to Children about God
Sunday, Mar 24th 10:45a to 12:00p
Sundays, March 17 & March 24, 2019, 11:00am-12:00pm with Rabbi Toba Spitzer In this two session workshop, Rabbi Toba will present about how we teach about God in the CDT religious school and provide opportunities for adults to explore how they relate to the many metaphors for God provided within the Jewish tradition. -
Sunday
Mar 24Pre-Pesach Learning with Rabbi Jordan Schuster
Sunday, Mar 24th 10:45a to 12:00p
The shift from the cold rains and barrenness of winter to the growth, fertility, and potential of spring was a period of hope, but also tremendous anxiety, for the cultures of the Ancient Near East. In this session we will investigate how Judaism translated these anxieties around seasonal transition into its own unique set of Passover rituals. We will consider how the classical rabbis and the Jewish mystics created new mythic and psychological frameworks through which to inspire themselves and their communities to move – with courage and confidence – from winter to spring, from slavery to freedom, from despair to praise. This will be discussion-based session. Everyone welcome! Rabbi Jordan Schuster is a faculty member at Hebrew College where he teaches Tanach, Midrash and Hasidut. He is excited to get to know the Dorshei community in this context. -
Tuesday
Mar 26Religious School Gr. 3-6
Tuesday, Mar 26th 3:45p to 5:45p
Meets at First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton, 1326 Washington St. West Newton, MA -
Wednesday
Mar 27Reconstructionist Intro to Judaism
Wednesday, Mar 27th 7:30p to 9:00p
Introduction to Judaism: A Reconstructionist Approach If you are beginning to explore Jewish life and practice, or seeking to fill the gaps in your Jewish education, this class is for you! Class sessions will address the foundations of Jewish living, key concepts in Judaism, and offer a taste of the wide variety of Jewish texts. For those interested in conversion to Judaism, the class will serve as a useful introduction, and rabbinic support will also be provided. Come join us on a journey towards meaningful engagement in the riches that Jewish tradition has to offer. When? Ten Wednesday evenings 7:30-9:00pm on the following dates: Jan. 30th Feb. 6th, 27th Mar. 13th, 27th Apr. 3rd, 17th May 1st, 15th, 29th Cost: There will be a sliding scale between $150-$350 for the ten sessions, but please be in touch with Rabbi Shahar (dcl@dorsheitzedek.org) if the cost is prohibitive. Location: It sounds like there is some interest in meeting in West Newton, and some interest in meeting elsewhere. The first meeting of the class will be in West Newton (at 2nd Church or FUUSN), and then Rabbi Adam will figure out based on the group if it makes sense to do some meetings in participants’ homes. -
Thursday
Mar 28Mindful Mornings
Thursday, Mar 28th 8:30a to 9:15a
This weekly gathering combines guided and silent meditation to develop our capacity for mindful awareness and to cultivate qualities of patience, gratitude, and compassion. All are welcome, whether experienced in meditation or not. The group is facilitated by CDT members with occasional participation by Rabbi Toba. No need to make a weekly commitment; join us when you’re able! (Please arrive no later than 8:30am, in order not to disrupt the session once we’ve started.) For more information, please email mindful-mornings@dorsheitzedek.org -
Friday
Mar 29Young Adult Dinner
Friday, Mar 29th 7:00p to 8:00p
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Friday
Mar 29Klezmer Kabbalat Shabbat Service
Friday, Mar 29th 8:00p to 10:00p
The Klezmer Shabbat Service was created by Amy Lieberman and Cantor Becky Khitrik in 2014 as an outgrowth of their love of Klezmer music. “Since Klezmer is primarily an instrumental genre and we love to sing, we were all interested in creating a Kabbalat Shabbat service that was built on the Kabbalat Shabbat liturgy, but for choir and congregational voices, using the melodies of the Klezmer world and a Klezmer band to accompany our singing.” The result of that work was the Klezmer Kabbalat Shabbat Service. They have brought this service to communities across the Boston area, finding ways to integrate it with the community’s context. This service is an opportunity to experience the flow of the Shabbat music in a truly unique way. All are invited! -
Saturday
Mar 30Shabbat Morning Service & Bar Mitzvah of Sid Hackett
Saturday, Mar 30th 9:45a
Please join us for musical, participatory, weekly Shabbat Morning Services and Bar Mitzvah of Sid Hackett, beginning at 9:45am. For people of all backgrounds and levels of Jewish experience. Services will be followed by a kiddush lunch. Childcare is available. All are welcome.