Rabbi Rebekah Stern
Rabbi Rebekah Stern returned home to Congregation Beth El, first as Associate Rabbi in 2014, before becoming Senior Rabbi in 2021. Rabbi Stern feels that it is a tremendous privilege to serve as Rabbi in the community in which she grew up.
Rabbi Stern leads the clergy team in providing support to the members of our community on our individual and shared Jewish journeys. She leads Shabbat and holiday services and life cycle events, teaches and supports our members with pastoral care needs. She works closely with all of our youth, family and teen programs, and brings her skills as a songleader to many of these areas in our community. She provides leadership and support to our staff and volunteer leaders across the congregation, attending to the intellectual, relational and spiritual needs of the members of our community. Rabbi Stern is inspired by the Jewish prophetic call to justice, both inside and beyond our congregation. She serves on the Leadership Team of RAC-CA and is engaged with the national Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. She works closely with local clergy, both inside and outside the Jewish community.
Rabbi Stern earned her BA in psychology with a minor in anthropology from UC Berkeley. She attended rabbinical school at the Los Angeles campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR). While there, Rabbi Stern also earned Master’s degrees in Hebrew Letters and in Jewish Education. During her final year in rabbinical school, she served as rabbinic intern at Peninsula Temple Sholom (PTS) in Burlingame. She stayed on at PTS for three additional years, serving as Assistant Rabbi.
Rabbi Stern became bat mitzvah at Beth El, and grew up in many of the programs with which she now works, including BENS (Beth El Nursery School) and CKT (Camp Kee Tov). She is married to Sean Holcombe, and they live in Albany with their two children, Leora and Jonathan.