Qabbalat Shabbat with Judy Schindler

Gather with us onsite or online for Qabbalat Shabbat. All are welcome to join this service full of prayer, meditation, and music!

As we mark the twenty-fifth yahrzeit of Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler, we honor his visionary leadership of the Reform Movement and his lifelong commitment to Jewish unity, inclusion, and justice. As president of the Union for Reform Judaism from 1973 to 1996, Rabbi Schindler championed outreach to interfaith families, advocated for Soviet Jewry, and spoke out boldly for social and moral causes that shaped modern Jewish life.

We are privileged to welcome his daughter, Rabbi Judy Schindler, as our guest speaker. Rabbi Schindler is an activist, author, professor, and nationally recognized leader whose work continues her father’s legacy of moral courage and engagement. She serves as the Sklut Professor of Jewish Studies at Queens University of Charlotte and is Executive Director of the Spill the Honey Foundation, which strengthens the Black–Jewish alliance through arts and education. She was founding director of the Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center at Queens University and is Rabbi Emerita of Temple Beth El in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Rabbi Schindler chairs the Reform Israel Rabbinic Cabinet of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and serves on the Board of Governors of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations, representing world Jewry in dialogue with the Vatican, Orthodox Christian Church, and World Council of Churches. She co-authored Recharging Judaism: How Civic Engagement Is Good for Synagogues, Jews, and America (CCAR Press, 2018), a National Jewish Book Award finalist, and is a frequent speaker and writer on faith, justice, and community leadership.

A devoted teacher and bridge-builder, Rabbi Schindler brings a powerful voice for justice and compassion, inspiring us to live out the values her father so passionately championed: above all, we are Jews.

To join our community online, visit us on YouTube, Facebook Live or Temple Israel’s livestream.

Questions? Call 617-566-3960 or email info@tisrael.org.