Our Clergy
Rabbi Morris J. Allen
Rabbi
The congregants of Beth Jacob synagogue have enjoyed the spiritual leadership of Rabbi Morris J. Allen since August 1986. With Rabbi Allen’s guidance, Beth Jacob has grown from a start-up congregation into a thriving community of over 410 households, receiving nine Solomon Schechter Awards from the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism for its innovative programming.
Honored by the Forward newspaper as one of America’s 50 most significant Jewish leaders,
Rabbi Allen was invited to attend the Israeli Presidential Conference upon Israel’s 60th Anniversary, as one of then-president Shimon Peres’ hand-picked list of thinkers and doers.
Social justice issues are a vital part of Rabbi Allen’s spiritual leadership at Beth Jacob. He currently leads the Conservative movement’s work on producing Magen Tzedek
or Justice Certification, a means for determining if workers are humanely treated with dignity and respect as they produce Kosher food—and has testified at the Minnesota Legislature on behalf of a meatpacking workers’ bill of rights. (Visit Rabbi Allen’s Magen Tzedek blog.)
Rabbi Allen served as a member of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Commission on Human Sexuality,
is an outspoken advocate for the security of the Jewish state of Israel, and has been involved with Jewish Community Action’s work on behalf of non-documented workers, particularly in the Hispanic community.
Rabbi Allen is also an on-call chaplain for the State Department of Corrections, visiting with Jewish inmates around the state. Ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1984, Rabbi Allen has a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is married to St. Paul pediatrician Dr. Phyllis Gorin, and they are the parents of three children, Avi, Leora and Adina.
After 25 Years, It’s Good to Know
A Battle Never Fully Won
Kashrut, Justice and Judaism
Call it Marriage
Shabbat Values: Sunday Through Friday
Chew by Choice
Contact Rabbi Allen at mojo210al AT aol DOT com
Rabbi Lynn C. Liberman
Director of Congregational Learning
As Director of Congregational Learning at Beth Jacob Congregation, Rabbi Lynn C. Liberman directs all of our synagogue’s learning programs from youth through adults—seeking to transmit her love of Judaism and Jewish life through her passion for teaching in the enriched Jewish environment that is Beth Jacob.
Ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1993, Rabbi Liberman has served as spiritual leader of congregations from Florida and Missouri to Western Massachusetts and Austin, Texas, before coming to Beth Jacob in 2007. She also taught as Rabbi in Residence of the Solomon Schechter Day School of St. Louis, where she created a unique Talmud writing curriculum that resulted in the creation of personally-bound volumes of the Talmud for each student.
Rabbi Liberman has performed volunteer work in the areas of AIDS, Reproductive Choice, Housing, alleviating hunger and care of the environment. She currently volunteers as Chaplain for the Mendota Heights/West St. Paul Police and Fire Departments, as well as serving as a board member of Nechama: A Jewish Response to Disaster. She is now completing training to serve as an advocate for victims of domestic abuse.
Summertime Learning Begins with Shavuot
Providing for Our Community
Modeling a Commitment to Judaism
The Power and Importance of Our Stories
Contact Rabbi Liberman at learn AT beth-jacob DOT org