Biography
Joe is a fifth-year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Originally from Lexington, Massachusetts, Joe has worked as an educator at Brown RISD Hillel and spent a year as a Fulbright scholar in Jerusalem, where he also studied at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. He was a 2022-2023 rabbinical student fellow at Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action, where he advised Jewish communities on their climate justice endeavors, and a 2024 apprentice at the Center for Small Town Jewish Life in Maine. He has served as a teacher and prayer leader around the country, most recently as a rabbinic intern at Congregation Shearith Israel in Dallas, Texas, and Beth Israel Congregation in Bath, Maine. Joe holds a B.A. in American History from Yale.
Articles Written by
Joe Blumberg
Reflections on the BJ Rabbinic Fellowship
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- By Joe Blumberg and Iliana Brodsky
In anticipation of the upcoming Fellows Shabbat and retreat, our current rabbinic fellows Iliana and Joe sat down to take stock and reflect on their ...
Beyond the Mask of a Single Story
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- By Joe Blumberg
Lately Tuesday evenings have become a highlight of my week, because I have the privilege of teaching BJ’s Introduction to Judaism class. Our class is ...
Singing Our Way Into Prayer
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- By Joe Blumberg
A few days ago, someone in our community asked me what it is that I love the most about tefillah, Jewish prayer. What an amazing ...
A Lesson from Nature’s Quiet Teachers
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- By Joe Blumberg
Who knew donkeys could teach such deep Torah? This past week, many former BJ Rabbinic Fellows gathered for a reunion retreat in the woods of ...
Of Bicentennials and Freedom
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- By Joe Blumberg
I grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts, a town that takes great pride in being the site of the first battle of the American Revolution on ...
The Haftarah Project: Va-era — Humility and Forgiveness
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- By Joe Blumberg
In this week's Haftarah Project, BJ Rabbinic Fellow Joe Blumberg reflects on the haftarah for Va-era and its vivid imagery of Pharaoh’s downfall, God’s justice, ...
Finding Light in the Interregnum
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- By Joe Blumberg
I was at Shabbat dinner with some BJ members last week, and the conversation turned to the 20th-century anti-facist Italian philosopher, Antonio Gramsci. Gramsci is ...