PAST ARTICLES AND SERMONS FROM RABBI BAIR
Rabbi Ethan Bair
Rabbi Ethan BairJULY 2013 TO JUNE 2018
Email: RabbiBair@tbsmb.org
Rabbi Ethan Bair grew up in Boston where he was raised by spiritual seekers who rediscovered their Judaism through the Jewish Renewal movement. A graduate of Oberlin College and a former Fulbright scholar to Germany, Rabbi Bair was ordained at the Reform seminary, Hebrew Union College, Los Angeles, in 2011. He wrote his Rabbinic thesis on “Re-Envisioning Reform Jewish Prayer,” with Dr. Rachel Adler. While in rabbinical school, he was a recipient of the prestigious Schusterman Rabbinical Fellowship, which brought together future Reform and Conservative rabbis to learn about volunteer engagement, strategic planning and synagogue management. Stemming from this experience, Rabbi Bair would describe himself as a member of a new generation of Jewish leaders for whom denominations are secondary to transformational Jewish experience. For more than 11 years he has served congregations in Ogden, Utah; Vancouver, British Columbia; Sun Valley, Idaho; and San Rafael, CA. Most recently, he worked at American Jewish World Service, a global Jewish non-profit working to realize human rights in the developing world. Before that, he served as Campus Rabbi at the University of Southern California Hillel.
Rabbi Bair served Temple Sinai as our Senior Rabbi for five years before moving on to an an Assistant Rabbi position at Temple Beth Shalom in Miami Beach, FL. Rabbi Bair is committed to creating a participatory and authentic Jewish prayer culture; promoting inter-faith social justice work; and integrating Jewish studies with traditional Jewish sources into his repertoire of teaching. He enjoys running, hiking, singing, and welcoming Shabbat guests into his home with his wife, Nadya who has a PhD in Art History.
Parashat Sh’mot 1/9/2015
Knowledge is Love: The Importance of Advanced Directives for End of Life This past summer, my grandmother, the beloved matriarch of my family, died. She was able to communicate and make known to my mother and uncles when she wanted to stop eating and drinking. Her children then had the chance to show her the […]
Parashat Chukat 6/27/2014
Keeping Our Eyes on the Prize: A Two-State Solution In this week’s portion, Moses and Aaron are called upon to bring forth water from the rock of Meribah so that God can provide water for the people and their animals. The people have been complaining about the lack of water in the Wilderness of Zin, […]
Parshat Terumah 1/31/14
When I was growing up, I could not take Jewish community for granted. My family did not take an active part in synagogue life. From the age of 10, I attended boarding school where I was one of two Jewish kids in my school. In preparation for my Bar Mitzvah, I did not attend Hebrew […]
Parshat Va’eira 12/27/2013
I have 24,673 Medallion Qualification Miles on Delta. They’re called MQM’s. It’s not a lot. Not nearly as many as I had last year, to which I attribute my Gold Medallion status on Delta this year. I only need 327 more qualifying miles to make silver status for next year. I have literally called Delta […]