RABBI DAN GOLDBLATT - RABBI
Rabbi Dan has been the spiritual leader of Beth Chaim for the past 30 years. He currently serves as Vice President of the National Board of Aleph: the Alliance for Jewish Renewal and is also past-President of OHALAH: The Association of Rabbis for Jewish Renewal where he served as Chairman of the Ethics Committee for seven years and was the chief author of the organization's Ethics Policy. He has helped found a number of faith-based environmental and social justice organizations in the Bay Area and is active in interfaith work in the San Ramon Valley. While Rabbi Dan grew up in an orthodox home in Cleveland, Ohio, his route to the rabbinate has been quite "unorthodox." He lived in Israel for more than five years after college where he worked as a tour guide, journalist for the Jerusalem Post, and directed the Tzavta Theater Club in Jerusalem. Upon returning to the U.S., Rabbi Dan produced a weekly Jewish television show before he and his wife Yael moved out to the Bay Area in 1981. Rabbi Dan was an award winning writer/director/producer of documentary films, a number of which were aired on the Disney and Discovery Channels. He was a professional theater director and spent a year as a guest artist in the theater department at UC Berkeley. Prior to coming to Beth Chaim, Rabbi Dan served a number of synagogues from Vallejo to Davis as part-time spiritual leader. When he came to Beth Chaim in 1993, he discovered a warm, welcoming, young congregation that he could partner with in building a vibrant Jewish spiritual community.
Want to Kibbitz, Kvetch or Kvel (and have a breakfast nosh) with Rabbi Dan? Click here to book an appointment!
Below are some videos from Rabbi Dan:
Rabbi Dan talks about what people can expect when they come to Beth Chaim:
Rabbi Dan talks about what he enjoys about doing the "work" of being a Rabbi:
Rabbi Dan talks about God and the problems people have finding God in their lives: