6:15 PM  Kabbalat Shabbat Services
7:00 PM  Shabbat Dinner
8:15 PM  Learning Session with Rabbi Mikie Goldstein, Director of Development of Masorti "Experiences of a Masorti Rabbi in Israel"
The State of Israel has over 3,000 rabbis on its payroll – all of them Orthodox. How can Masorti rabbis carve out an acceptable place for themselves in Israeli society? What role is there for pluralistic Judaism that is not officially recognized? How does the public respond to a rabbi who doesn’t fit into the accepted stereotype? These are just some of the questions that we will ask Rabbi Mikie Goldstein after Friday night dinner, when he will share with us his personal experiences of being a Masorti (Conservative) rabbi in Israel.

The Friday evening lecture, after dinner at approximately 8:15 PM, will be available via Zoom using this link https://zoom.us/j/788352437, password: 6301.

Saturday, April 15
9:00 AM  Shabbat Morning Services with Sermon by Rabbi Goldstein
12:30 PM  Post-Kiddush Learning Session with Rabbi Goldstein "Come as You Are: Masorti Making a Jewish Home for all Israelis"
Most Israeli Jews are not religious, but a vast majority of them value their Jewishness and Judaism. With Orthodoxy not relevant to almost 80% of Jews in Israel, what can Masorti and other progressive streams do to welcome those who are unaffiliated, and help them discover their own place on the Jewish arc? Rabbi Mikie Goldstein will speak about the connections he made with many Israeli families during his eight years as rabbi of Adat Shalom-Emanuel in Rehovot.

Originally from Liverpool, UK, Rabbi Mikie Goldstein made aliyah in 1989, after completing a BA in Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Manchester. He received his rabbinic ordination in 2014 from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, returning immediately to Israel to fill the position of rabbi at Adat Shalom-Emanuel, the Masorti congregation in Rehovot of which he had previously been a member, until June 2022.

Before turning to the rabbinate, Rav Mikie worked chiefly in the non-profit sector, including heading Masorti’s development department. He has volunteered at various organizations, including the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance, where he served as board chair from 2008-2010. Rav Mikie also worked abroad for the Foreign Ministry in the Public Diplomacy (Hasbarah) and Culture departments of various Israeli missions.

During his rabbinical studies, Rav Mikie interned at the New Israel Fund, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Town & Village Synagogue in New York’s East Village, and at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the world’s largest LGBTQ synagogue. In 2017, Mikie was elected to serve as president of the Israel region of the Rabbinical Assembly (RA), placing him on the International RA’s Executive Council, until 2022, as well as on the boards of the Masorti Movement and the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary.

In July 2022, Rav Mikie started a short stint heading the Religious Services Bureau of the Masorti Movement and the RA in Israel. In January 2023, he returned to direct Masorti's development department, this time leading the movement's global fundraising efforts.

Rav Mikie continues to accompany new and established kehillot, working to facilitate congregants’ journeys to owning their Judaism. He is a staunch supporter of religious pluralism in Israel and works in the wider community to reconnect the unaffiliated to their Jewish tradition.

Masorti Shabbat continues tomorrow. Click here for details.

SHABBAT DINNER RESERVATIONS

$28/adult; $18/child (ages 3–12) 

Registration closes April 10 at noon.

Register below.