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David Feinberg. (Courtesy of David Feinberg)<\/p>\nDavid Feinberg. (Courtesy of David Feinberg)<\/p>\n
After speaking at his grandmother\u2019s funeral, David Feinberg\u2019s longtime mentor and family friend gave him a suggestion that would change the trajectory of his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe we should talk about rabbinical school based on what you just said,\u201d Rabbi Joel Seltzer told the Philadelphia native.<\/p>\n
This was in summer 2025. Now, Feinberg is among Hebrew Union College\u2019s largest rabbinical cohort in more than a decade. He is spending his first year of rabbinical school in Israel alongside 27 peers before beginning classes at either HUC\u2019s New York or Los Angeles campus for the remaining four years.<\/p>\n
And it all began at a funeral, honoring the family matriarch who served as a \u201clifelong Jewish educator,\u201d in Feinberg\u2019s words.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a catalyst, I would say, to something that I\u2019d sort of been flirting with \u2026 for many years,\u201d Feinberg said of the conversation with Seltzer.<\/p>\n
He began researching different rabbinical schools, programs and movements \u2014 raised in a \u201cvery Conservative Jewish household\u201d and attending Temple Sinai in Dresher, Feinberg notably attends a Reform rabbinical school. This choice reflects a trend he\u2019s seen of choosing a school based on personal need rather than denomination.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot that needs to be done in a communal, social, active kind of way, and I think that Hebrew Union College\u2019s program is extremely robust in terms of pastoral care outreach,\u201d Feinberg said. \u201cI really like that a lot of their education is programmed around action placement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Feinberg noted that there are many ways to get into Jewish involvement, such as through a love of Jewish text.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy central nexus is very much about leading with action,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He spent nearly seven years as an educator, songleader and innovator of the Hebrew school curriculum at Congregation Beth El of Bucks County. Feinberg also taught at Makom Community in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
After a move to Chicago in 2021, he led an education program at Ramah Day Camp Chicagoland.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I wanted to stay on the Jewish educational path best I could, but my grandmother, who was a long-term educator, was a really big influence on me,\u201d Feinberg said.<\/p>\n
Now a rabbinical student, Feinberg said there are many social causes close to his heart.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the exciting point that we\u2019re exploring a lot in school right now: what are entrance points into faith, finding more creative balances of ways to find one\u2019s own spirituality, experimentation with one\u2019s own spirituality, as well as trying out new things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In line with the Reform tradition, Feinberg believes that Judaism encourages people to find new ways into the faith that resonate with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be past tradition, just how we\u2019ve done it in the past,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe should put [Judaism] into practice in a way that feels like it fits well with us, and it\u2019s a reflection of our stories.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year is an adjustment for Feinberg, who wasn\u2019t particularly Jewishly involved during his college years: \u201cI came back around to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI also haven\u2019t been a student in several years, so the big thing is just learning how to be a student,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
While this next chapter \u2014 attending rabbinical school overseas \u2014 may be a step outside his comfort zone, Feinberg said he\u2019s excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe work is challenging, but that\u2019s what I signed up for,\u201d Feinberg said. \u201cA friend of mine [asked] what I wanted out of rabbinical school. I said that I kind of wanted it to kick my butt a little bit, to get me in gear.\u201d<\/p>\n
He described HUC\u2019s Year in Israel program as dynamic and engaging so far. It\u2019s also a peak year for HUC, given that the school has seen a higher-than-usual enrollment of rabbinical students.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it shows that people are up to the task \u2014 young people especially,\u201d Feinberg said. \u201cI\u2019m proud to say that we have a really great cohort here,\u201d<\/p>\n
The estimated median age of the cohort is about 26 or 27, according to 30-year-old Feinberg.<\/p>\n
\u201cYoung people are up to the task, and we\u2019re excited to do it,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people in our cohort with exciting ideas, passion, ventures for learning, for what they plan for leadership. I think it\u2019s going to make a lot of good change.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for 2031, after he\u2019s ordained, Feinberg is still unsure of what the future entails. He hasn\u2019t ruled out returning to where his whole journey began.<\/p>\n
\u201cPhiladelphia, I think, is a dynamic Jewish community,\u201d Feinberg said. \u201cPhiladelphia\u2019s Jewish community is vibrant. There\u2019s a lot of innovative people within it, and I\u2019d be happy to be considered a part.\u201d<\/p>\n
zbell@midatlanticmedia.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Feinberg. (Courtesy of David Feinberg) After speaking at his grandmother\u2019s funeral, David Feinberg\u2019s longtime mentor and family…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[111423,111424,111425,5061,33447,111426,25858,182,81867,69,71,70,111427,111428],"class_list":["post-263790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-congregation-beth-el-in-yardley","tag-dresher","tag-hebrew-union-college","tag-israel","tag-jewish-community","tag-jewish-educator","tag-jewish-life","tag-local-news","tag-makom-community","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-rabbinical-school","tag-temple-sinai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}