Testimonials
Rabbi Tom. As I have now recovered from such a joyous occasion, I can formally say thank you for marrying Mark and I. We are so grateful that we connected with you and that you were able to join our families. I can't tell you how much both of our families enjoyed speaking with you and the ceremony itself, which is all we hoped for. Thank you so much for such a beautiful ceremony, the guidance beforehand, and for connecting with our families in such a genuine way. We are truly so grateful. A million thanks. Terri & Mark, Chicago, IL
Rabbi Tom was an amazing wedding officiant! He married my husband and I last year, and we could not have been happier! Our guests were raving about how beautifully he spoke at our ceremony, he was a pleasure to work with, and made the whole process easy and fun! We highly recommend his services! Lindsey & Aaron, IL
We loved having Rabbi Tom officiate our wedding. We don't live in Chicago, but our wedding was there, so choosing a Rabbi was a bit of a challenge. We needed a Rabbi who could give us the guidance throughout the planning process to start our marriage on the right foot, and someone who would make our ceremony feel personal and meaningful. Rabbi Tom came highly recommended to us from a close friend, and from our first call with him, we were sold. He is a perfect balance of traditional and modern. He has a conversational and approachable way of making the Jewish values and traditions we care about so relevant and understandable. Throughout the process of planning our wedding, he was incredibly present and generous with his time, and flexible in his leadership, to give us the guidance, homily, songs, and prayers we wanted. Our conversations with Rabbi Tom leading up to the wedding challenged us to help strengthen our relationship and open up to each other in a new way. His guidance and advice has been immeasurable. He lead our ceremony with love and personalization. He knew us. He made us, our family and our guests comfortable. And I've never thought to compliment a rabbi on a ceremony, but our family and guests came up to us and to Rabbi Tom with the warmest compliments (no, really!) If we were getting married again, we would easily choose Rabbi Tom to remarry us. But if you're only going to get married once, and care about a personal, warm, relevant Jewish guidance leading up to, and during your wedding, we couldn't recommend Rabbi Tom Samuels any higher. Jake & Lauren, New York City
Rabbi Tom's patience shone through over the long period between when we first reached out to him about officiating and when he was actually called upon to help us get married (over two years!), thanks to a COVID-driven postponement of the original date. But from day 1 he was committed to helping us craft a ceremony that was special, thoughtful, and meaningful to us both, including diving into working with a Christian co-officiant to build an interfaith ceremony that equally balanced our beliefs, traditions, and perspectives. On the day-of, Tom was congenial, friendly, and excited to take part in bringing us together under the chuppah. It meant the world to us to get to start our married life knowing that we were accepted and welcomed as ourselves in a Jewish lens, even if one of us wasn't a Jew, and we have Rabbi Tom to thank for that. David & McKinley, Chicago
Thank you so much for helping make our wedding day feel so special. We will never forget your guidance and support. Mike and Laura, Chicago
Rabbi Tom, thank you so much for officiating at our wedding ceremony. We appreciate your willingness to work with us and help us plan a meaningful, sacred ceremony that we will cherish forever. Katie & Brian, Chicago
We are thrilled that Rabbi Tom did the ceremony for our 40th anniversary! The words he wrote were beautiful and reflected exactly how we felt. He made this wonderful occasion extraordinary with his words and song. Cherisse & Jim, Indiana
Rabbi Samuels, we greatly appreciate your guidance, kindness and support. Thank you for making this day, Janessa's baby naming, so special for her and our family. Mara & Robert, Chicago
Dear Rabbi Tom, my daughter and I could not have hoped for a more special experience for her becoming a Bat Mitzvah. You provided just the right support and in just the right ways throughout the planning, tutoring, and service. To say you were helpful with our particular unique set of circumstances and out-of-the-box requests is an understatement! Through your guidance and openness, we were able to create a very meaningful event that embodied Jewish spirituality in exactly the right way for us, and allowed for our unique expression as individuals and family to unfold. This touched the lives of all friends, family and community that were present. Your connection with my daughter through music was pure joy, the blending of your voices together in prayer is something we will hold dear to our hearts forever. In peace and with deep gratitude. Lynntia, Chicago
Thank you Rabbi Tom, for standing right next to me, and being a complete lifesaver to my family and my Bat Mitzvah service. Bella, Chicago
Thank you, Rabbi Tom, for all the extra efforts you made to help me grow, and the challenges you encouraged me to face, to help me to be here today. Your knowledge, your dedication, and your patience. You are not only our rabbi, you are our friend, authority, and guide, all rolled into one person. I will always be grateful to you for your support and for your kindness. From my heart to yours, Toddah Rabba! Koreann, Kelowna, BC
Rabbi Tom, A huge thank you from all of us! It’s been a crazy year for sure. You were amazingly patient, flexible and always had a sense of humor. Thank you for guiding our family through all of this, for creating a ceremony that was meaningful and that fit our family perfectly. We couldn’t have gotten through it without you. Thank you for being such an important part of our family. Craig, Ami, Gemma & Quinn, Chicago
Rabbi Tom, I didn't get a chance to talk with you yesterday and say thank you for a beautiful Bar Mitzvah. I got a lot of compliments on how inclusive you were and how you explained everything so our non Jewish guests felt welcome. I can't thank you enough for your influence on Max, especially for expanding his analytical skills and your openness in dealing with his questions about religion. He really enjoys studying with you. Thank you again for yesterday and beyond. Illisa, Chicago
Rabbi Tom, thank you for leading my mother's memorial service at Zion Garden this past week. I felt the service was a real celebration of Mom's life and your guidance was very key in making it come together in this way. With loving memories. Bob, Indiana
Rabbi Tom, Just a note of profound thanks for conducting our mother's graveside service last weekend. Our family could not have been better served, and a number had substantive conversations you brought out with your (I believe somewhat unique) open - friendly demeanor and style. Your genuine interest in people is apparent. Jim & Michelle, Illinois
Children and teachers alike are delighted by Tom’s music. He has an infectious, enthusiastic way of sharing music with children. With him we sing, move, make rhythms, and learn a bit of Hebrew. Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation Early Childhood Center, Evanston
Tom is multi-layered. He is erudite enough to lead a terrific d'var Torah, but also down-to-earth enough to handle the logistics of community projects. Our Earth Day garden walk at JRC would never have happened without Tom. It's always a delight to hear his voice at our minyan, and a special treat when he leads services. Becky, Evanston
Rabbi Tom, I really appreciated your High Holiday message yesterday. The joy, the humor, the hope. Your unending fearlessness and passion to connect people with Judaism. Your words have been with me in my thoughts of reflection. Thank you! Leila, Crystal Lake
I whole heartily endorse Tom as a man of integrity, high energy and intellect. He is a wonderful, caring teacher who is able to distill the complex down into easily understood applications, whether his classroom is of teens or of community representatives of disparate views and agendas. Tom is a man who completes the tasks at hand, is able to successfully do multiple things at once and takes joy in helping better those around him. He is not afraid to have the hard conversations and is one of the most productive listeners I have ever met. Joe, Chicago
Rabbi Tom was an amazing wedding officiant! He married my husband and I last year, and we could not have been happier! Our guests were raving about how beautifully he spoke at our ceremony, he was a pleasure to work with, and made the whole process easy and fun! We highly recommend his services! Lindsey & Aaron, IL
We loved having Rabbi Tom officiate our wedding. We don't live in Chicago, but our wedding was there, so choosing a Rabbi was a bit of a challenge. We needed a Rabbi who could give us the guidance throughout the planning process to start our marriage on the right foot, and someone who would make our ceremony feel personal and meaningful. Rabbi Tom came highly recommended to us from a close friend, and from our first call with him, we were sold. He is a perfect balance of traditional and modern. He has a conversational and approachable way of making the Jewish values and traditions we care about so relevant and understandable. Throughout the process of planning our wedding, he was incredibly present and generous with his time, and flexible in his leadership, to give us the guidance, homily, songs, and prayers we wanted. Our conversations with Rabbi Tom leading up to the wedding challenged us to help strengthen our relationship and open up to each other in a new way. His guidance and advice has been immeasurable. He lead our ceremony with love and personalization. He knew us. He made us, our family and our guests comfortable. And I've never thought to compliment a rabbi on a ceremony, but our family and guests came up to us and to Rabbi Tom with the warmest compliments (no, really!) If we were getting married again, we would easily choose Rabbi Tom to remarry us. But if you're only going to get married once, and care about a personal, warm, relevant Jewish guidance leading up to, and during your wedding, we couldn't recommend Rabbi Tom Samuels any higher. Jake & Lauren, New York City
Rabbi Tom's patience shone through over the long period between when we first reached out to him about officiating and when he was actually called upon to help us get married (over two years!), thanks to a COVID-driven postponement of the original date. But from day 1 he was committed to helping us craft a ceremony that was special, thoughtful, and meaningful to us both, including diving into working with a Christian co-officiant to build an interfaith ceremony that equally balanced our beliefs, traditions, and perspectives. On the day-of, Tom was congenial, friendly, and excited to take part in bringing us together under the chuppah. It meant the world to us to get to start our married life knowing that we were accepted and welcomed as ourselves in a Jewish lens, even if one of us wasn't a Jew, and we have Rabbi Tom to thank for that. David & McKinley, Chicago
Thank you so much for helping make our wedding day feel so special. We will never forget your guidance and support. Mike and Laura, Chicago
Rabbi Tom, thank you so much for officiating at our wedding ceremony. We appreciate your willingness to work with us and help us plan a meaningful, sacred ceremony that we will cherish forever. Katie & Brian, Chicago
We are thrilled that Rabbi Tom did the ceremony for our 40th anniversary! The words he wrote were beautiful and reflected exactly how we felt. He made this wonderful occasion extraordinary with his words and song. Cherisse & Jim, Indiana
Rabbi Samuels, we greatly appreciate your guidance, kindness and support. Thank you for making this day, Janessa's baby naming, so special for her and our family. Mara & Robert, Chicago
Dear Rabbi Tom, my daughter and I could not have hoped for a more special experience for her becoming a Bat Mitzvah. You provided just the right support and in just the right ways throughout the planning, tutoring, and service. To say you were helpful with our particular unique set of circumstances and out-of-the-box requests is an understatement! Through your guidance and openness, we were able to create a very meaningful event that embodied Jewish spirituality in exactly the right way for us, and allowed for our unique expression as individuals and family to unfold. This touched the lives of all friends, family and community that were present. Your connection with my daughter through music was pure joy, the blending of your voices together in prayer is something we will hold dear to our hearts forever. In peace and with deep gratitude. Lynntia, Chicago
Thank you Rabbi Tom, for standing right next to me, and being a complete lifesaver to my family and my Bat Mitzvah service. Bella, Chicago
Thank you, Rabbi Tom, for all the extra efforts you made to help me grow, and the challenges you encouraged me to face, to help me to be here today. Your knowledge, your dedication, and your patience. You are not only our rabbi, you are our friend, authority, and guide, all rolled into one person. I will always be grateful to you for your support and for your kindness. From my heart to yours, Toddah Rabba! Koreann, Kelowna, BC
Rabbi Tom, A huge thank you from all of us! It’s been a crazy year for sure. You were amazingly patient, flexible and always had a sense of humor. Thank you for guiding our family through all of this, for creating a ceremony that was meaningful and that fit our family perfectly. We couldn’t have gotten through it without you. Thank you for being such an important part of our family. Craig, Ami, Gemma & Quinn, Chicago
Rabbi Tom, I didn't get a chance to talk with you yesterday and say thank you for a beautiful Bar Mitzvah. I got a lot of compliments on how inclusive you were and how you explained everything so our non Jewish guests felt welcome. I can't thank you enough for your influence on Max, especially for expanding his analytical skills and your openness in dealing with his questions about religion. He really enjoys studying with you. Thank you again for yesterday and beyond. Illisa, Chicago
Rabbi Tom, thank you for leading my mother's memorial service at Zion Garden this past week. I felt the service was a real celebration of Mom's life and your guidance was very key in making it come together in this way. With loving memories. Bob, Indiana
Rabbi Tom, Just a note of profound thanks for conducting our mother's graveside service last weekend. Our family could not have been better served, and a number had substantive conversations you brought out with your (I believe somewhat unique) open - friendly demeanor and style. Your genuine interest in people is apparent. Jim & Michelle, Illinois
Children and teachers alike are delighted by Tom’s music. He has an infectious, enthusiastic way of sharing music with children. With him we sing, move, make rhythms, and learn a bit of Hebrew. Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation Early Childhood Center, Evanston
Tom is multi-layered. He is erudite enough to lead a terrific d'var Torah, but also down-to-earth enough to handle the logistics of community projects. Our Earth Day garden walk at JRC would never have happened without Tom. It's always a delight to hear his voice at our minyan, and a special treat when he leads services. Becky, Evanston
Rabbi Tom, I really appreciated your High Holiday message yesterday. The joy, the humor, the hope. Your unending fearlessness and passion to connect people with Judaism. Your words have been with me in my thoughts of reflection. Thank you! Leila, Crystal Lake
I whole heartily endorse Tom as a man of integrity, high energy and intellect. He is a wonderful, caring teacher who is able to distill the complex down into easily understood applications, whether his classroom is of teens or of community representatives of disparate views and agendas. Tom is a man who completes the tasks at hand, is able to successfully do multiple things at once and takes joy in helping better those around him. He is not afraid to have the hard conversations and is one of the most productive listeners I have ever met. Joe, Chicago