Rabbi Tom Samuels

UPDATE:
I will be relocating to Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, July 2021 to take-on a pulpit with the OJCC Jewish Community. 

I remember Shabbat afternoons learning the weekly Torah portion with my grandfather, my zaida. We both loved these sessions: pure joy, connection, safety. He held my hand as I delved into the text, and I held his as he delved into his memories. 

Being a rabbi is my calling. I have a passion to inspire and to engage with others on co-creating Jewish environments and experiences where meaning and memory-making can happen. I am excited and blessed to be able to help individuals, families and communities to navigate times of transition. To find our spiritual voices. To integrate the transcendent and purpose in to our everyday lives. The Awe of Uncertainty rather than the Joy of Certainty. To be a part of something higher than our own selves. 

The Torah is called the Book of Life, Sefer Ha’Chayim. Judaism is something you get intimately involved with. It is a relationship. A meeting place. Where we meet Holiness in our everyday lives. This is the Judaism that I crave. That I seek and share. A Judaism that engages, integrates, and inspires the whole person: the world that we inhabit, and the world that we would like to build.
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B’Shalom,

Rabbi Tom
tsamuels123@gmail.com
(773) 899-0156