Leadership and Clergy
Rabbi Eliana Jacobowitz
Our Rabbi, Eliana Jacobowitz, 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 has been with our congregation since 2008 as our Education Director.
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 rabbi, Rabbi Eliana created many community-oriented programs and services including the 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.Under Rabbi Eliana’s leadership the congregation children's school has revitalized and doubled its size. She has developed a curricula to match the program's diversity of students, and to reflect the values of the community.
Read Rabbi Eliana's sermons here:
5780 Rosh Hashnah
5778 Rosh HaShanah
5778 Kol Nidrei
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 rabbi, Rabbi Eliana created many community-oriented programs and services including the 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.Under Rabbi Eliana’s leadership the congregation children's school has revitalized and doubled its size. She has developed a curricula to match the program's diversity of students, and to reflect the values of the community.
Read Rabbi Eliana's sermons here:
5780 Rosh Hashnah
5778 Rosh HaShanah
5778 Kol Nidrei
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Somerville residents may have noticed Rabbi Eliana Jacobowitz's smiling face on the front cover of the Somerville Scout in January/February 2012. To download a copy of the article about Rabbi Eliana in the Somerville Scout, click below!
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Dr. Phil Weiss
Phil Weiss is Congregation B'nai Brith's Darshan Emeritus. (seeker, inquirer, explainer). Phil started as Baal Korei (Torah Reader), then served as Darshan from 1985 to 2019.
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!
 Dr. Phil Weiss officiating at an October 3, 2010 ceremony inaugurating Rabbi Eliana Jacobowitz as assistant rabbi. |
 Congregants Adam Grossman and Ruth Grossman performed in the Kleiman sanctuary during the inauguration of Rabbi Eliana Jacobowitz as assistant rabbi of Temple B'nai Brith. |