Rabbi Rachel Isaacs
Rabbi Rachel Isaacs was named one of “America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis” (2014) by the Jewish Daily Forward. Ordained in 2011 by the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she studied as a Wexner Graduate Fellow, Isaacs is the spiritual leader of Beth Israel Congregation. She is also the inaugural holder of the Dorothy “Bibby” Levine Alfond chair in Jewish Studies at Colby College. In 2016, she delivered the final Hanukkah benediction of the Obama administration at the White House.
Articles by Rabbi Rachel Isaacs
Bonds of Indebtedness and Shame
The scriptural readings of Shavuot force us to consider the emotional and spiritual dimensions of indebtedness.
Tu Bishvat and the Repudiation of Cynicism
The Jewish new year for trees is the rare time where we celebrate potential — not product.
Parashat Noach: How Societies Collapse
The story of the flood is an object lesson in the kinds of crimes that pose existential social threats.
Rabbi Rachel Isaacs
Watch a High Holidays sermon from the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel in Waterville, Maine.
‘All That Lives Shall Bless Your Name’
This Nishmat Kol Chai benediction is said at the transition between our preparatory prayers and core elements of the morning service.
Praying for the Government
The tradition of praying for the government reflects a recognition that Jewish welfare is bound up with that of the nations in which Jews live.
How to Remain True to God — And Each Other
The morning blessing Yotzer Or teaches something fundamental about the Jewish conception of God, and the key to successful human relationships.
Ahavat Olam and Ahavah Rabbah: How God Shows Us Love
God does not show us love through indulgence or simple tenets of faith, but by illuminating the way to a holy life.
Tammuz: Remembering Our Spiritual Center
How Jewish is the Hebrew Calendar? When we use a Hebrew word to identify a period of time, we may ...
Words of Torah, for Marriage Equality: Rabbi Rachel Isaacs
Marriage equality is on the ballot in four states this November – Maryland, Washington, Minnesota, and Maine – which could ...