Meet Rabbi Woodward

ALLEN SAMUEL PHOTOGRAPHY

Rabbi Eric Woodward became BEKI’s spiritual leader in 2021, after serving congregations in suburban Philadelphia and downtown Columbus, Ohio. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, in a mixed-race Ashkenazi Jewish and Mexican American home, and graduated from Williams College with honors in religion.

Rabbi Woodward was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary and also studied at Yeshivat Hadar in New York and Mechon Schechter in Jerusalem. His approach to pastoral care was shaped by his training at JTS as well as an intensive unit of chaplaincy at Bellevue Hospital in New York, where he served a diverse, urban, largely uninsured community. In 2012 he joined the American Jewish World Service clergy delegation to Muchucuxcah, a Mayan village in the Mexican Yucatan.

As BEKI’s leader, Rabbi Woodward works to nurture Jewish life in all its vibrancy and diversity, through teaching, prayer, community-building, and the joyful celebration of Shabbats and holidays. He is committed to lifting up Jews of color and of interfaith backgrounds. Most of all, he is animated by the pastoral calling of his work – joining with people as they go through all the vicissitudes of human experience. If you are celebrating, grieving, or simply need someone to listen and care, please reach out to him at rabbi@beki.org.