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5304 RFD Long Grove, IL 60089 phone: 847.634.0777 fax: 847.634.8055 |
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Rabbi Howard Lifshitz has been the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Judea since l98l. He, his wife Gail, and their two daughters, Jennifer and Jessica, reside in Buffalo Grove.
Born and raised in Chicago, Rabbi Lifshitz attended Brandeis University where he received a bachelor's degree in sociology and studied at the Rabbinical School of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York City where he was ordained in l973. He also did field work with the Jewish Family Service of New York City and spent a year in Jerusalem taking courses at Neve Schechter and the Hebrew University.
Our Rabbi is actively involved in the community. This is evidenced by his service as President of the Chicago Region of the Rabbinical Assembly, his position on the Board of Directors of the Jewish Community and Family Service of Metropolitan Chicago, his active support of Federation activities and his participation in the Buffalo Grove Chaplaincy program. Rabbi Lifshitz frequently is asked to speak to church groups, public school students, and at various adult study programs.
At Beth Judea, Rabbi Lifshitz serves as a guide and resource for all aspects of synagogue activity. He is often a teacher and a guest speaker in our religious school and he meets with our youth, with B'nai Mitzvah families, with those planning programs and with individuals who need a listening ear. The Rabbi, of course, joins with our congregants in moments of joy and sorrow, in the celebration of life cycle events, in classes of adult learning and in opportunities for worship. Together with our members, Rabbi Lifshitz seeks to build a vibrant Jewish community in which our heritage of Judaism enriches life and stimulates the mind and heart.
Rabbi Lifshitz has received an honorary doctorate from the Jewish Theological
Seminary in recognition of his more than twenty-five years in the rabbinate
and has ben honored by Beth Judea for his more than eighteen years as spiritual
leader of the congregation. In 2001 the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
awarded him the Simon Greenberg Award for Outstanding Rabbinic Service at
its annual Chicago dinner. Rabbi Lifshitz attended the Summer Institute
for Theology at Oxford University in England during the summer of 2001.