Rabbi Jason Fenster is honored to join the clergy team and serve the BJBE community! His Jewish roots come from his amazing rabbis and community at Temple Sinai in Rochester, NY. Jason was active in NFTY; he also attended and worked at URJ Eisner Camp. Rabbi Fenster earned a B.A. in Politics and a minor in Law & Legal Studies at Brandeis University. While in college, he was actively involved in Jewish communal life and acted in and directed musicals.
After graduating, he moved to Washington, D.C. for a year-long fellowship as an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant and the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism. There, he represented the Reform Movement in interfaith and secular progressive coalitions on a variety of policy issue areas including civil rights, gun violence prevention, and LGBT equality. He also spent two years as a research and communications associate at the Justice Policy Institute before attending rabbinical school.
Rabbi Fenster was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in May 2017. As a student, he served as the rabbinic intern at Woodlands Community Temple in Greenburg, NY. He was blessed to have powerful learning and professional experiences with T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, the URJ’s Leadership Institute, and Temple Judea in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. While in school, he received many honors, including the prestigious Tisch/Starr Fellowship directed and taught by scholar Rabbi Larry Hoffman.
He is excited to bring his passions for social justice, study, and Jewish community building to BJBE.
Rabbi Fenster lives in Northbrook with his wife, Gavi Young Fenster, and their sons, Benjamin & Henry.
You can reach Rabbi Fenster at jfenster@bjbe.org.