Rabbi Barbara Symons

Rabbi Barbara AB Symons

Shul by the Sea

July 2024

I am thrilled to drop my anchor in City Island to become the rabbi of Shul by the Sea.  I welcome you to join me as we pray, learn, and repair the world together discovering and rediscovering the balance between tradition and today. We will engage with one another through sacred texts, inspiring music, the beauty and diversity of Judaism and Jewish culture and just plain fun while nurturing partnerships within and beyond the Jewish community.

A bit about me: I graduated from the University of Michigan and was ordained by Hebrew Union College in 1994.  Mostly recently, I served Temple David in Monroeville, Pennsylvania for 18 years and have been named Emerita. I am thrilled to have even a small part in raising up prophetic voices through the diversity of contributors in the book I edited Prophetic Voices: Renewing and Reimagining Haftarah (CCAR Press 2023). I met my husband Rabbi Ron Symons during our first week in Jerusalem at Hebrew Union College and am daily and deeply proud of, and inspired by, him and our three children all of whom are not only committed Jews but learned, creative Jewish professionals.