Weddings

My goal for your wedding

My foremost  goal for you and your wedding is to perform the ceremony you would facilitate for yourselves if you could be in your wedding and officiate it at the same time! Once you engage my services, I will meet with you as many times as you wish - the more the better, so that I can come to know you well both as a couple and individuals and thereby reflect YOU into YOUR ceremony. From my experience with the many couples whom I’ve helped, I will advise you regarding both the large components and small details of your ceremony, introduce you to options you may not have considered and lead your family and friends through your wedding based on a “map” that you create for me. I will suggest and/or create “ceremonies-with-the-ceremony” that I have created over the years reflecting your specific needs and circumstances and I offer you my guitar playing and singing, as well, if you feel it might contribute to the feeling you are seeking.

Your wedding ceremony will be fueled by the energy you bring to it.

It is built on your relationship - reflecting the journey you have taken thus far together and your visions for your future. Your ceremony should be real and honest for you so that it creates an authentic embrace for this special moment. Would you like to write your own vows? Would you like to acknowledge the memory of a loved one? If you’re creating a blended family, let’s include something for your children! Would you like your guests to participate in the ceremony? Let’s create something for them, too! I look forward to the privilege of working with you.

Funerals

Funerals create a structure to hold the varied and often fluctuating feelings that flow after the death of a loved one.

As a rabbi, I can bring you the structure offered by Jewish tradition. If you, your family and or and/or the person you are honoring and remembering are not Jewish, I can adapt my tradition so that it supports you authentically. While they honor those who have died, funerals are for the living and it is my sacred responsibility to help you as you grieve.

I WILL HAVE A PERSONAL MEETING WITH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY

So that I can absorb as much as possible about the person you are remembering. I will have phone conversations with key members of your loving circle who are coming in from out of town. Realizing that we cannot hope to capture all the memories and reflections of a lifetime in a funeral, I will ensure that we express the personality, values and virtues of the person you are remembering with love, warmth, honesty and integrity.

FOR A

Sample

of my musical blessings for baby namings

Additional Services

Children's Concerts

I love working with children and I find that music is wonderful way to "translate" the world for them. I have created a CD of my work called "On This Day and All the Time" available on iTunes. The music ranges from tunes that are just silly and fun ("I'm a Whiner", "Faces in the Mirror") to songs that "lift" the values out of life ("I'm Sorry", "Use Your Words", "Your Grandpa Marched with Martin Luther King") and help children use those values in their young and growing lives. I would be honored to do a concert for your organization, school, religious community and more mixing my songs with songs you know well. I can assure you the kids will have fun and the parents will, too!

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Invite Me to Your Book Club

Isn't it amazing how much more a book can mean when you share the reading experience with others? My interests are quite wide ranging from historical material and historical novels to fantasy books and certainly books that explore and contribute to our spiritual journeys and how those spiritual insites help us heal the world. Invite me to your already existing book club for a guest discussion.

Lectures, Pulpit Guest and More

I have been invited to guest lecture at churches, synagogues and community groups on many occaisions. In the Talmud, R. Chanina remarked, “I have learned much from my teachers, more from my colleagues, and the most from my students” (Ta’anis 7a). I, too, find this to be true and would welcome the opportunity for that give and take with your group or community. My topics include:

• "Judaism for Non-Jews": A one session introduction to Judaism that can also be expanded into several sessions. 
• "I Miss You": Poems, prayers, songs and gentle guidance for adults helping the grieving child.
• "East-Over": The curious origins of Passover and Easter and how their similarities and differences
• "The December Dilemna": The "holiday season" and how it can teach us what America really is.
• And more!