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Rabbi Howard A. Berman
Rabbi Howard A. Berman is Rabbi of BJS. He is also Rabbi Emeritus of Chicago
Sinai Congregation, Chicago's historic center of liberal Reform Judaism, having served as Senior Rabbi since 1982.
He was born in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, where he received his
early religious and general education. After attaining his
undergraduate degree in European History from the Universities
of Cincinnati and London, England, he studied for the Rabbinate
at the Leo Baeck College in London, the Hebrew University
in Jerusalem, and the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati,
where he received the degree of Master of Hebrew Letters and
was ordained in 1974. He has also pursued graduate studies
in American Religious History at the University of Chicago
Divinity School and the Chicago Theological Seminary, and
studied Architectural History at Trinity College, Hartford,
Connecticut. In 1999 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of
Divinity by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
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As a student, Rabbi Berman served Reform Congregations in
London and Brussels, as well as in Baltimore; Petoskey, Michigan;
and Rapid City, South Dakota. He also served as a Youth Group
Advisor for the World Union of Progressive Judaism in Amsterdam,
and as Assistant Dean of Admissions for the Hebrew Union College.
After his ordination, Rabbi Berman was appointed Assistant
Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, New York City, where he served for
five years. While in New York, he founded “The Levites,”
an interfaith clergy fellowship of assistant rabbis, priests
and ministers. From 1979-1981, he was Associate Rabbi of Temple
Beth Israel, West Hartford, Connecticut.
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Rabbi Berman has been active in various religious and civic
organizations both locally and nationally. In 1986, he was
appointed by the late Mayor Harold Washington to the Chicago
Peace Conversion Commission, charged with drafting and enforcing
the city’s Nuclear Free Zone Ordinance. From 1989-1996,
he served on the faculty of the Lutheran School of Theology
in Chicago, and has also served on the Social Action Committee
of the Chicago Board of Rabbis; the AIDS Pastoral Committee
of the Council of Religious Leaders in Chicago; and the Leadership
Council of the Howard Brown Memorial AIDS Clinic. From 1992-1996,
Rabbi Berman represented the Chicago Jewish community on the
Metropolitan Task Force of the Council for the World Parliament
of Religions, and served on the Board of Directors of Planned
Parenthood of Chicago from 1994-1996. In addition, he has
been an annual contributor to the World Book Encyclopedia
Year Book as editor of its articles on Judaism.
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With his decision to move to Boston in 1997, he became Rabbi
Emeritus of Chicago Sinai Congregation.Currently, he is active in a variety of civic and interfaith
organizations both in Boston and in Provincetown, Mass., where
he maintains a second home, and is a frequent guest preacher
and lecturer in churches and synagogues in both communities.
He was the Founding Co-Chair of the Religious Coalition for
the Freedom to Marry in 1997, and has regularly officiated
at the annual Gay Pride Service at the New England Holocaust
Memorial. As part of the partnership between BJS and Emmanuel Church, Rabbi Berman serves as "Rabbi in Residence" of the parish, preaching monthly at Sunday Morning Worship.
Rabbi Berman also serves as Executive
Director of the American Council for Judaism, a national organization dedicated to
promoting the historic liberal principles and distinctive worship traditions of the
Reform Movement. |
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Rabbi Berman's avocational interests include the study
of American history, architectural history and the collecting
of contemporary art and rare books. He is an active patron
and collector of the Provincetown art tradition. He lectures
widely on New England history, particularly the Mayflower
Pilgrims, and is also a collector of British historical memorabilia,
relating to Diana, Princess of Wales. In August 1998, he was
a keynote speaker at an International Academic Symposium at
the University of London commemorating the first anniversary
of Princess Diana's death.
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