(Postal address available upon request)
rbarenblat@gmail.com
EDUCATION:
ALEPH Rabbinic Program. Currently engaged in a process of study including distance learning, tutorial learning, and apprenticeship-based learning (since fall 2005.) Director of Studies, Rabbi Laura Duhan Kaplan.
Bennington College, Bennington, VT. MFA in Writing and Literature, concentration in poetry, 1999. Studied with April Bernard, David Lehman, Thomas Sayers Ellis and Jason Shinder.
Williams College, Williamstown, MA. BA with Honors in Religion, concentrations in Women's and Judaic Studies, 1996. Honors Thesis in Religion, 1996. Focus on literature and creative writing. Dean's List.
CURRENTLY:
Rabbinic student intern, Congregation Beth Israel, North Adams MA, 2006-present. During Rabbi Jeff Goldwasser's 2006 sabbatical I led Shabbat and festival services, taught classes, offered pastoral counseling, and provided funeral coverage. I also chair the religion committee, serve on the board of directors, teach b’nai mitzvah students and adult Hebrew students.
M'saderet/Celebrant, 2003-present. Work with couples and families to create meaningful, personalized lifecycle celebrations (weddings, baby namings) grounded in Jewish tradition. (Find samples at Velveteen Rabbi in the "ceremony archive" section.)
Freelance Writer, 1997-present. Credits include the Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature (Oxford University Press, 2003), the Companion to 20th-Century American Poetry (Facts On File, 2004), Dovetail, Sojourner, Lilith, InterfaithFamily.com and The Hyde Park Review of Books; wrote five grade-school textbooks for an Almanac of the States series (Gareth Stevens, 2002).
Contributing Editor, Zeek, 2006-present. I contribute regular essays and interviews to this "Jewish journal of thought and culture," an independent literary magazine which exists both online and in print.
PREVIOUSLY:
Conference organizer, first annual Progressive Faith Blog Con, 2006. Dreamed up, planned, orchestrated, and ran the first annual gathering for bloggers of progressive faith in Montclair, New Jersey, including panels, keynote presentations, and worship rooted in four different faith-traditions. (Read transcripts and impressions here.)
Co-founder/Executive Director, Inkberry, 2000-2006. Taught writing workshops, moderated book groups, planned reading series, publicized, raised funds for and managed this literary nonprofit serving the Berkshire region.
Freelance Editor, 2003-2005. Provided editorial services and coordinate book development on a contract basis. I helped to edit Will Yoga and Meditation Really Change My Life? (Storey Books, a division of Workman Publishing, 2003). I also co-edited Cyber Collaboration: Writings from the Bennington Collective, 2004.
Editor, The Women's Times, 1999-2001. Selected themes for upcoming issues, assigned articles, edited submissions, wrote articles/cover stories/reviews, assembled resource guides, oversaw editorial content, managed the editorial department, and served as a community liaison throughout the distribution area for both editions of The Women's Times. Served as contributing editor 2001-2002.
Associate Editor, Pif Magazine, 1999-2002. Duties included requesting submissions from prominent poets, acting as liaison with publishing houses, handling reprint permissions, and soliciting commentary; also wrote periodic book reviews and essays.
SERVICE LEADERSHIP
I lead Shabbat services with some regularity at Congregation Beth Israel, a Reform shul in North Adams, Massachusetts. During 2006 I led all services during the four months of the rabbi’s sabbatical.
In 2007 I led a mincha/maariv/havdalah service for a crowd of about 200 people (folks affiliated Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox as well as unaffiliated, intermarried, and/or non-Jewish.) It was also the bat mitzvah of my niece Emma, with whom I had worked intensely for a year and with whom I created a custom-designed siddur for the occasion.
Also in 2007 I created a kids’ machzor for Congregation Beth Israel, and led childrens’ services during the Days of Awe.
In 2008 I completed the Davenen Leadership Training Institute, a two-year liturgical leadership program offered through ALEPH and taught by Rabbi Marcia Prager, Hazzan Jack Kessler, and Rabbi Shawn Zevit.
I also frequently officiate at weddings, baby-namings, and other life-cycle events.
PUBLICATIONS:
I maintain Velveteen Rabbi, a regularly-updated blog focusing on Judaism, which BlogPulse and Technorati both rank highly. In 2008, Time.com named Velveteen Rabbi one of the top 25 blogs in the world in its First Annual Blog Index.
During 2005 and 2006 I was a regular contributor to group blog Radical Torah, where I posted frequent divrei Torah. For much of 2004, I was also a contributing editor at Kesher Talk, a collaborative Jewish blog.
My poems for the Days of Awe have been printed in a variety of synagogue bulletins and High Holiday supplements around the United States.
Third poetry chapbook, chaplainbook, published by Laupe House Press (an imprint of Phoenicia Publishing, 2006.
Short essays on the life and work of Marge Piercy and Thomas Lux appear in Companion to 20th-Century American Poetry, Facts on File, 2005.
An essay on the life and work of Alicia Ostriker appears in The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature, Oxford University Press, 2003.
"To Make Our Hands Holy" appears in The Women's Seder Sourcebook,, Jewish Lights Publishing, 2002.
"It's Better Blurred" aired on The Round Table, WAMC/Northeast Public Radio, July 2002.
Wrote five textbooks (Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, Washington, New York) for an Almanac of the States series published by Gareth Stevens, 2002.
"Is Judaism Necessarily Insular?" appears in The Guide to Jewish Interfaith Family Life, Jewish Lights Publishing, 2001.
Co-authored retirement chapter of Money Order: The Guide to Financial Literacy for Women, Simon & Schuster, 2001; co-authored wine-tasting chapter of Tripod's Tools for Life, Hyperion Press, 1998.
Second poetry chapbook, What Stays, published as part of the Bennington Writing Seminars Alumni Chapbook Series, 2002.
First poetry chapbook the skies here, Pecan Grove Press (San Antonio), 1995.
Poetry publications include The Hawai'i Pacific Review, Phoebe, Confrontation, The New Orleans Review, The Portland Review.
For a complete publication listing, please see my bibliography.
CONTINUING EDUCATION:
Elat Chayyim, formerly in Accord, NY and now in Falls Village, CT. A range of retreats and workshops, including "Tikkun Olam" with Rabbi Arthur Waskow (2002), "Inner Space" with Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (2004), and "Deep Ecumenism" with Rabbi Shaya Isenberg (2005). Ongoing.
Davening Leadership Training Institute, Falls Village, CT. (At the Elat Chayyim Institute for Jewish Spirituality.) A two-year liturgical leadership program taught by Rabbis Shawn Zevit and Marcia Prager and Hazzan Jack Kessler. 2006-2008.
MEMBERSHIPS/COMMUNITY:
Associated Writing Programs;
The Bennington Collective;
Academy of American Poets;
WOM-PO Women in Poetry List;
President of the Berkshire Lyric Theatre Board of Directors, 2001;
Steering Committee, Infinite Capacity Partnership, 2002-2003;
Congregation Beth Israel Board of Directors, 2004-present;
Congregation Beth Israel Religion Committee co-chair, 2004-present;
Congregation Beth Israel Chevra Kadisha, 2005-present;
Inkberry Board of Directors, 2000-present.
Student member, Ohalah rabbinic association, 2006-present.
Last updated Jun3, 2008.