Rabbi David Evan Markus
Rabbi David Evan Markus is senior builder for Bayit: Your Jewish Home (emergent trans-denominational incubator for Jewish spiritual innovation), past co-chair of ALEPH (umbrella organization for the worldwide Jewish renewal movement) and co-rabbi of Temple Beth El of City Island (New York). David serves on the rabbinics faculty of the Academy for Jewish Religion – New York, and on the spiritual direction faculty of the ALEPH Ordination Programs, with academic focus on Jewish liturgy, mysticism, spiritual formation and faith in the public sphere. David is a prominent scholar in residence for communities and gatherings across North America, and a syndicated blogger on Jewish life for My Jewish Learning, The Jewish Studio, and The Wisdom Daily. David’s writings also regularly appear in The Forward, Sh’ma, Moment and Velveteen Rabbi. A fellow of Rabbis Without Borders, David received dual ordination as rabbi and mashpia ruchani (spiritual director) from ALEPH. In secular life, David presides as judicial referee in New York Supreme Court, 9th Judicial District, and thus is among the few pulpit rabbis also to hold public office. David's previous public service posts include special counsel under the Chief Judge of New York, deputy director of voter protection for Obama for America, senior counsel to the New York Senate, and senior law secretary to the New York Court of Appeals. David also served as faculty in graduate public administration at Pace University and political science faculty at Fordham University. David earned his Juris Doctor magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, his Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and his Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude from Williams College. He lives in New York.
Articles by Rabbi David Evan Markus
The Sounds of Silence
Hello darkness, my old friend. I’ve come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds ...
Tzom Bechorot: Why I’m Fasting Before Passover
April 3, 2015, is Tzom Bechorot, Fast of the Firstborn when first-born Jews fast before the first seder of Passover. This day also ...
The Freedom of Now
When does time begin? What does time measure? What came before the beginning? Such mind-bending questions evoke timeless truths especially ...
Denominational Ins and Outs: The New Mishkan
Jewish life is turned around – so suggests this week’s Torah portion (Terumah) about the first Mishkan (ritual focus of ...
Why a Rabbi? Five Aspirations for Rabbinic Life
On January 11, 2015, I received rabbinic smicha (ordination) from ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal. Six years of academic study, ...
Bah Humbug and Amazing Grace: Christmas for Jews
“Merry Christmas,” we’ve heard for weeks.For Jews living in predominantly Christian societies, Christmas evokes responses ranging from joy to alienation. ...
Pilgrim’s Progress: Thanksgiving, Plymouth Rock and the House of God
Thanksgiving beckons loved ones together to count blessings and honor journeys toward freedom and plenty. Whether our ancestors traveled to these ...
The Jewish Duty to Vote
Election Day in the U.S. is coming. How will being Jewish shape your choice whether to vote?This November, Americans will elect ...
Yom Kippur’s Circle Dance
Yom Kippur conjures solemnity and foreboding for many Jews. Ritual fasting, abstinence, penitence, and rehearsing for death evolved as core ...
God at the Speed of Life
Most moderns live life on the run. You probably don’t need any reminder, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports ...