We Welcome Rabbi Lipper to TBS

The Interim Rabbi Search Committee (IRSC) has wonderful news! We are excited to introduce Rabbi David Lipper to the Temple Beth Sholom family as our Interim Rabbi! TBS has contracted Rabbi Lipper to serve our congregation from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022. Rabbi Lipper brings with him years of knowledge and experience as an interim rabbi helping with synagogues in transition.

Some of Rabbi Lipper’s strengths include:

Great listening skills
Very personable and approachable (and we hear his wife is too!)
Very engaged with the entire congregation- he wants to be accessible to everyone
Great teacher/scholar of Judaism
Tech Savvy – so important in these times!

We can’t wait for everyone to meet Rabbi Lipper this summer! Be on the look-out for upcoming events starting in July where you can meet, talk, and get to know him!

The opportunity to inspire and teach is what led me to the decision to become a rabbi. I believe that Judaism holds the answers to life’s deepest questions. I am passionate about my own spirituality and I try to foster the spiritual journey in both young and old. I believe that the synagogue is the pathway through which this spiritual connection is fostered. My greatest desire is to build sacred community. I believe very strongly in the power of community and the important role the rabbi plays in helping to shape it. I have always been proud of the communities in which I have served. We are people working to maintain and grow Judaism for the future. We have the opportunity to create the future of Jewish life and learning and inspire the next generation. I consider myself a teacher, spiritual guide, passionate social advocate, innovative worship leader, strategic thinker, and driver of innovative congregational programming. I try to foster a sense of sacred partnership and hope to build effective long-term creative relationships with lay leaders and congregants of all ages.

My rabbinic journey has taken me to many communities. I have served as an intentional interim rabbi for Temple B’nai Torah in Bellevue, WA; Temple B’nai Chaim in Georgetown, CT; Temple B’nai Israel in Little Rock, AR; and Temple Chai in San Antonio. I have served as a rabbinic resource for congregations in Panama City, Florida; Lake Charles, Louisiana; Corpus Christi, Texas and at Congregation Emanu-El in Houston, TX. And I have served the following communities as a full-time settled Rabbi: Temple Kol Tikvah of Lake Norman, Temple Israel in Akron, Ohio, Temple Emanuel in McAllen, Texas, and Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

All along the way, I have believed in the idea of Judaism as a big tent, open and welcoming to all who want to enter. People need a spiritual home that nurtures them and guides them down sacred paths. That is what has brought me to Temple Beth Sholom of Orange County, a congregation that embraces this idea, that has become a home to so many and has opened its arms wide for all who need. We are a kaleidoscope of backgrounds and beliefs and through our combined lens, we embrace all the colors of the rainbow.

I have published two volumes one entitled, Living Mitzvot, a guide for Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation, and Who knows the One?, A comparative analysis of Greek Philosophy and Jewish Mysticism. I also co-authored a monograph on the philosophy of Rabbi Moshe Hayim Luzzatto that was published in the Journal of Progressive Judaism.

I am from Houston, Texas. I am married to Dora, and we have four children: Benjamin and his wife Jillian, Miryam, and Dena Jo and our precious granddaughter Hazel and Astro our dog.