Leadership and Clergy
Dr. Phil Weiss
Phil Weiss is Congregation B'nai Brith's Darshan
(seeker, inquirer, explainer, i.e. religious leader). Phil accepted that role in 1985, after
serving for two years as the congregation’s Baal Korei (Torah
reader).
A graduate of Columbia College, Phil earned his M.A. and Ph.D (in Philosophy) at S.U.N.Y Stony Brook. While attending Columbia, he took courses at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and he spent his junior year at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, studying, primarily, Jewish philosophy and kabbalah. Phil is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wheelock College, where he was a recipient of the Cynthia Longfellow Teaching Recognition Award.
With Phil's help, Congregation B'nai Brith has been successful in preserving the traditional tone of its Jewish worship and ritual life, while at the same time evolving as an egalitarian, independent, democratic community that is welcoming to Jews from all walks of life and background.
Phil brings to Congregation B'nai Brith the dual gifts of being an inspired teacher as well as a student of Jewish thought, ethics, and world religions. His d'vrei Torah (Torah talks), sprinkled with wit and humor, reflect his study of metaphysics and the philosophy of religion, his affinity for Plato, Emerson, Thoreau, Nietzsche, and Whitehead, and his love of Jewish texts.
At Congregation B'nai Brith, Phil leads Shabbat and holiday services, as well as officiating at Jewish life cycle occasions. Phil also offers an assortment of adult education courses, and he leads a class on Tuesday afternoons for students approaching the age of Bar and Bat Mitvah.
Four collections of his sermons for the Yamim Nora’im (Days of Awe) have been published by Congregation B'nai Brith: Awesome!, More Awe!, God-Awful!, and Awe Shucks!
A graduate of Columbia College, Phil earned his M.A. and Ph.D (in Philosophy) at S.U.N.Y Stony Brook. While attending Columbia, he took courses at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and he spent his junior year at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, studying, primarily, Jewish philosophy and kabbalah. Phil is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wheelock College, where he was a recipient of the Cynthia Longfellow Teaching Recognition Award.
With Phil's help, Congregation B'nai Brith has been successful in preserving the traditional tone of its Jewish worship and ritual life, while at the same time evolving as an egalitarian, independent, democratic community that is welcoming to Jews from all walks of life and background.
Phil brings to Congregation B'nai Brith the dual gifts of being an inspired teacher as well as a student of Jewish thought, ethics, and world religions. His d'vrei Torah (Torah talks), sprinkled with wit and humor, reflect his study of metaphysics and the philosophy of religion, his affinity for Plato, Emerson, Thoreau, Nietzsche, and Whitehead, and his love of Jewish texts.
At Congregation B'nai Brith, Phil leads Shabbat and holiday services, as well as officiating at Jewish life cycle occasions. Phil also offers an assortment of adult education courses, and he leads a class on Tuesday afternoons for students approaching the age of Bar and Bat Mitvah.
Four collections of his sermons for the Yamim Nora’im (Days of Awe) have been published by Congregation B'nai Brith: Awesome!, More Awe!, God-Awful!, and Awe Shucks!
Rabbi Eliana Jacobowitz
Rabbi Eliana Jacobowitz is the assistant rabbi at Congregation B'nai Brith. She was appointed to the newly created position in 2010, following her rabbinic ordination from Hebrew College in Newton, where she also earned an MA in Judaic studies. Rabbi Eliana, as she is fondly called, continues to serve as education director, a position she has held since 2008.
Rabbi Eliana brings to Congregation B'nai Brith a wealth of knowledge and experience from a wide breadth of interests. Raised in a secular Israeli family, Rabbi Eliana first studied fashion design and attended law school at Tel Aviv University. She served in the Israeli Defense Forces during the first Gulf War in 1991. In the U.S., she earned a BA in history from Colorado University, and an MA in medieval history from Boston University. She edited the Hebrew translation of “These Are the Words,” by Arthur Green (Yediot Acharonot Press, 2008).
At Congregation B'nai Brith, Rabbi Eliana initiated Friday evening services, which she co-leads with Seth Weiss. Rabbi Eliana's Kabbalat Shabbat service is infused with the warmth of singing.
In her first year as assistant rabbi, Rabbi Eliana created many community-oriented programs and services including a hugely popular family High Holiday service and a beginners Hebrew language class. Under her guidance, Congregation B'nai Brith is participating in several community-wide initiatives.
Rabbi Eliana directs Congregation B’nai Brith Children’s school. Under Rabbi Eliana’s leadership the school has revitalized and doubled its size Rabbi Eliana developed a curricula to match the program's diversity of students, and to reflect the values of the community.
Rabbi Eliana brings to Congregation B'nai Brith a wealth of knowledge and experience from a wide breadth of interests. Raised in a secular Israeli family, Rabbi Eliana first studied fashion design and attended law school at Tel Aviv University. She served in the Israeli Defense Forces during the first Gulf War in 1991. In the U.S., she earned a BA in history from Colorado University, and an MA in medieval history from Boston University. She edited the Hebrew translation of “These Are the Words,” by Arthur Green (Yediot Acharonot Press, 2008).
At Congregation B'nai Brith, Rabbi Eliana initiated Friday evening services, which she co-leads with Seth Weiss. Rabbi Eliana's Kabbalat Shabbat service is infused with the warmth of singing.
In her first year as assistant rabbi, Rabbi Eliana created many community-oriented programs and services including a hugely popular family High Holiday service and a beginners Hebrew language class. Under her guidance, Congregation B'nai Brith is participating in several community-wide initiatives.
Rabbi Eliana directs Congregation B’nai Brith Children’s school. Under Rabbi Eliana’s leadership the school has revitalized and doubled its size Rabbi Eliana developed a curricula to match the program's diversity of students, and to reflect the values of the community.
