Rabbi Paul Kipnes

Rabbi Paul Kipnes (he/him/his) is the spiritual leader of Congregation Or Ami in Calabasas, California. He also serves as rabbinic dean at URJ Camp Newman in Santa Rosa, CA. He consults on synagogue disruption and transformation, using his viral articles, Disruptive Judaism: Will Your Synagogue Be Beit Blockbuster or Kehillat Netflix and Synagogue dues are dead: What’s the price point at which quitting the temple is impossible? Rabbi Kipnes and his wife, Michelle November, co-wrote Jewish Spiritual Parenting. He also co-edited a national CCAR Journal issue, "New Visions for Jewish Community." His searing poetry and insightful writings can be viewed at PaulKipnes.com. 

Rabbi Paul Kipnes speaks at the Rabbinic Moral Leadership Gathering

A Mass Shooting and Wildfires Changed My Rabbinate. Here's How I'm Moving Forward

Rabbi Paul Kipnes

So I am going home with moral clarity for these turbulent times. I am feeling refreshed spiritually, reinvigorated strategically, renewed in my commitment, and prepared to help bend that arc a little more toward justice. I have no doubt that the journey ahead will be difficult. But the passion and perspective I picked up will push us - my rabbinic partner and I - through my diminishing patience for the status quo to produce what I perceive will become new organizing opportunities.