Rachel Timoner succeeds Andy Bachman as rabbi at Brooklyn congregation

From The Times of Israel

Rachel Timoner, a married lesbian mother of two, was named senior rabbi of Brooklyn’s Congregation Beth Elohim.

Timoner, the assistant rabbi at the Leo Baeck Temple in Los Angeles, will replace the eminent Rabbi Andy Bachman as head of the Reform synagogue, the daily Forward reported. She was the unanimous choice of the search committee, according to the Forward. Her appointment must be approved at a special membership meeting.

Bachman, a perennial presence on “top rabbis” lists, announced last March that he would be stepping down to pursue helping the general community on broader issues such as poverty, hunger and homelessness. He has served Beth Elohim, a large congregation in the Park Slope neighborhood, since 2006; his contract runs out at the end of June.

Timoner, a Miami native, has won awards for community service and her work with LGBT youth. She was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where she was a Wexner graduate fellow. She has a bachelor’s degree from Yale University.

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