HI! I'M RABBI BRIAN.

INTERFAITH WEDDINGS 

 Interfaith wedding ceremonies are a meaningful way to lift up both your Jewish heritage and your partner's faith - highlighting the unique ways in which both of your religions and cultures celebrate the universal themes of love and commitment. We'll represent both spouses and honor the new family you're creating, by weaving Jewish traditions with rituals from other religions and cultures.  

My goal is to create a ceremony that is inclusive of all aspects of your lives and is rich in education and community.  I promise to lead in a way that is accessible to everyone in the crowd, inviting them in to celebrate with you.  First time Jewish wedding guests often remark that they feel brought into the rituals and learned something new!

Frequently, I officiate weddings where one of the partners is Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, or secular/humanistic.  Some of the ways we have celebrated the different backgrounds is through inviting a sibling or friend to light a unity candle, read from Scripture or other text, and offer an interfaith blessing.

SAME-SEX WEDDINGS

MidwestRabbi.com is proud to support marriage equality and offers same-sex wedding officiant services for couples who want to celebrate their love and commitment to each other.

While many elements of these weddings mirror traditional ceremonies, couples often use the opportunity to reimagine or create new traditions that better reflect their identities. 

Every wedding is unique—just like every couple—and reinterpreting tradition to create a day that feels like yours is the best part of planning a wedding. I help LGBTQIA+ couples, including those who don't identify as "bride" and "groom." 

Your wedding can be whatever connects to you and your partner. This is the magic of telling your individual love story.

Be confident in what brings you and your partner joy, and bring guests along on that experience.

I can help you design a unique ceremony. For example, two glasses can be broken at Jewish weddings with two grooms or two brides. 

The brit milah ("covenant of circumcision"), brit bat (baby naming/"covenant of the daughter") ceremonies are opportunities to welcome the newest member of your family into the Jewish community and solidify their identity with a Hebrew name.

Through rituals, songs, and blessings that we pass down through the generations, we'll bless your child with a meaningful Hebrew name and mark the beginning of their Jewish journey.  I'll guide you in choosing a Hebrew name that honors a loved one's legacy or whose meaning adds blessing to your child's life.

Tradtionally a bris or brit milah is held when a baby boy is eight days old. Baby naming ceremonies can be held at any time.  Many parents have their sons circumcised in a hospital and just hold separate baby naming ceremonies.  If you are planning a bris, I will refer you to a trusted mohel or mohelet in your area who performs this timeless ritual.

The most important part of being a Jew is being a member of a Jewish community. I heartily encourage you to consider having your service on the bimah of a local synagogue, especially one where you have a family relationship or membership.   

Your congregational rabbi or cantor can help you plan all aspects of your learning and ceremony, providing tutors if you need them.

Often, families may decide to hold their child's Bar/Bat/B Mitzvah service in a different place, bringing family and friends together in their backyard, favorite restaurant or outdoors in nature.  While the service may take place in a non-traditional location, we'll come together to create a sacred space and celebrate your child becoming a Jewish adult. 

I can tutor you or your child.  I'll work with you to ensure that the ceremony honors who you are as a family, and I'll support your child in leading the service.

Judaism's wisdom provides a sense of grounding in end-of-life rituals such as hospice, funerals, Shiva, Tahara, stone dedications (unveilings), and other ceremonies that honor loved ones and mark transitions around change and loss.

Religious rituals can bring peace, structure, comfort and community support into these experiences.  They can also anchor us when grief alters our sense of time and space.

Contact me if you are looking for someone to guide you along the way.  Please know that I am here for you in your time of need.  We can perform the service at the funeral home or graveside.

I am always available for stone unveilings and Yahrzeit memorials, services on the anniversary of a loved one's passing.

Services can always be offered online for those who are too distant to celebrate together in person.

As an ordained rabbi and spiritual leader, I draw on my experience with couples and families to make navigating life's transitions a more supportive, less lonely process.  

Counseling can be especially helpful in time of grief and bereavement, or when choices around building an interfaith home and family raise questions.  I also work with people who are navigating lifecycles in the LGBTQIA+ community.

For many years, I have led Shabbat services and High Holiday services in congregations throughout Illinois, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Minnesota.

Many opportunities for belonging and connection exist outside traditional settings. I have been blessed to be invited into many communities to celebrate holidays, learn Torah together, and perform rituals to create meaning and memories.

From a Passover Seder at a nursing home to a Shabbat candle lighting on the shores of Lake Michigan, I have seen the power of creating a sacred space within a diverse community.

Do you need some practice remembering how to recite the Four Questions at your Seder?

Or maybe you're pondering some big philosophical Jewish questions...

I can help answer your queries about Jewish rituals, texts and traditions. It's never too late to learn to read Hebrew, sing holiday blessings, or explore and debate the lessons and wisdom of the Torah.

I can also coach you through the process of conversion to Judaism, working with local rabbis in a Bet Din, to become a Jew by Choice.