Who We Are
Rabbi Penzner
"Opening our gates, crossing bridges, meeting the Other. Facing one another in loving relationship provides the strongest and most blessed foundation for living good and meaningful lives in an unredeemed world." Yom Kippur Sermon 5768
Rabbi Barbara Penzner
Email Rabbi Penzner: rabbi@templehbt.org
Rabbi Barbara Penzner has served Temple Hillel B'nai Torah in West Roxbury, MA since 1995. During her time with HBT, she has brought in younger families, invigorated our prayer life, added intellectual depth to our study, and inspired us to act justly in the world.
Rabbi Penzner received the degree of rabbi and a Master of Hebrew Letters from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia in 1987. She is active in the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, the national association of Reconstructionist rabbis, and served as its President. She has also served as President of the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis. Rabbi Penzner is active in greater Boston�s Jewish community and in interfaith work, including leadership of Mayyim Hayyim: Living Waters Mikveh and Education Center in Newton, the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO), the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and the Jewish Labor Committee.
Her writings on topics including Israel-Diaspora relations, mikveh (ritual immersion) as a meaningful ritual for Jews today, and adult Jewish learning have been published in various journals and books. In addition to her Jewish interests, our rabbi is an avid Red Sox fan and a follower of Bruce Springsteen. She spends one week each summer with her family on the Tikkun Olam Family Work Project, a small group of Jewish parents and teens who help repair homes in a small community in Northern Maine.
She has lived in Jerusalem twice, once for a year and again for two years. She was born in New York but raised in the suburbs of Kansas City. She and her husband, Brian Rosman, work together on social justice causes, and are the proud parents of two children, Aviva and Yonah, who are now beyond bar and bat mitzvah age.