Rabbi Joe Blair
is proud and delighted to serve as the rabbi and spiritual leader of Temple House
of Israel (Staunton) and Beth El (Harrisonburg) Congregations. In this somewhat unique peripatetic and shared rabbi position, he
divides his time between these two long-established Jewish centers, serving
the extended Jewish community in the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia.
Rabbi Joe's vision is to build, nurture, and nourish a strong, vibrant
Jewish community in the Shenandoah Valley in Central Virginia, and to be
connected to and support the larger community in the local area and outward
into the world. He is especially pleased that this year (5769 – 2008/2009)
he has been selected as one of eighteen rabbis nationally to participate in
the sixth cohort of the STAR PEER program, which will assist him in honing
his skills and directing his energies fruitfully towards the goal of
realizing this vision.
Background
Rabbi Joe, the eldest of five, was raised in Fairfax
(Northern Virginia). He attended the University of Virginia for his Bachelor
of Arts and Master of Computer Sciences degrees, then went on to attend the
Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary. He and his
lovely wife Karen (also a U.Va and Marshall-Wythe graduate) settled in
Northern Virginia, and lived there for fifteen years, during which time
Rabbi Joe worked with computers for a variety of consulting, high-tech, and
telecommunications firms after a very brief stint as a general practice
attorney. They were blessed with a wonderful daughter who is a delight and a
source of great joy and pride to them.
During the years living in Northern Virginia, Rabbi Joe became increasingly
involved in the life of his local congregation and the larger Jewish
community. He found himself wanting to deepen and broaden his service to the
Jewish community and to increase his Jewish knowledge. After long
consideration, he decided to attend rabbinical school. He attended and
graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) in
Philadelphia, concluding his schooling in 1996, when he earned a Master of
Hebrew Letters degree and was ordained.
During his five years of rabbinical studies, Rabbi Joe held several pulpits,
taught in Religious and Hebrew schools, offered adult education classes,
served on the editorial staff of the Reconstructionist Prayerbook
Commission, and edited numerous publications, as well as authoring and
contributing materials to a number of books and publications. Upon
graduation from RRC, Rabbi Joe re-entered the academic world as Executive
Director of the Duke University Hillel Foundation. After three years at Duke
(during which time the Freeman Center for Jewish Life was built and
dedicated), Rabbi Joe was recruited to return to his alma mater at the
University of Virginia, serving at the UVa Hillel Foundation as Executive
Director. Rabbi Joe, Karen, and their daughter Riff took up that challenge,
happily moving to Charlottesville with their five extremely eccentric dogs.
They continue to reside there with a total of eight dogs and two geriatric
horses.
Rabbi Joe served as an Executive Director for Hillel Foundations for
approximately five years. He loved programming, teaching, and working with
the students, and found it deeply rewarding, but did not thrive on the
increasingly administrative and fund-raising role that was thrust upon him.
Regretfully, Rabbi Joe chose to end his association with the national Hillel
organization. Although Rabbi Joe officially left the Hillel organization, he
continued to serve as a rabbinic adviser to the Hillels at Washington and
Lee University and James Madison University, and made himself available to
students.
He was employed for a time as a Legal Analyst at LexisNexis Law Publishing
(formerly the Michie Company, a division of Matthew-Bender, a subsidiary of
Reed Elsevier) for almost two years prior to coming to the two congregations
as rabbi. During this time, he was also active as a part-time copyeditor and
proofreader for a variety of Hebrew-English publications, including the
Hebrew-English Tanakh published by the Jewish Publication Society (JPS),
several volumes in the series on the Talmud by H. Gamoran, and a series (in
progress) translating the Zohar written by D. Matt.
Throughout his adult years, Rabbi Joe has remained active in the Jewish
community wherever he lived, teaching, leading services, and working with
groups and individuals as opportunities and needs have arisen.
Visit the Rabbi's
Blog
Bikkur Cholim
If you
should hear or know of anyone who is ill, hospitalized or shut-in, or who might
otherwise wish a visit or call from the rabbi, please email or leave a message on the telephone
answering machine at the temple. Messages are checked frequently.
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Chevrah Kadishah
In the event that there should be a need (Chas ve’shalom) for the services
of the Chevrah Kadishah (Holy Burial Society), please contact Rabbi Joe by
email or phone. If there is a need for information concerning Jewish funeral
practices, you may also contact Rabbi Joe. Contact information below.
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Other Lifecycle Events
You may also contact Rabbi Joe with regard to other lifecycle events such as
Brit Milah (Circumcision of a son), Brit Bar or Brit Bat (Welcoming a Son or
Daughter), Naming Ceremonies, Weddings, Bar or Bat Mitzvah (Celebration
ritual for a religious coming-of-age ceremony), and so on. There is no
honorarium expected from members of the congregations for such ritual
events; non-members may inquire about the current guidelines.
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Office Days and Visits
In this year (5769 – August 2008/July 2009) Rabbi Joe will be available by
appointment only.
To get a sense of his current commitments, see his monthly schedule below.
In general, he is available for meetings and appointments in Staunton usually on
Mondays and
Fridays.
There are no fixed office hours so please email or call for a time to meet.
He is available for meetings and appointments in Harrisonburg
usually on Sundays and
Thursdays.
Other times
and days to meet or speak with him may be available. Please feel
free to call or email to set up a time to meet when he can focus exclusively
on the conversation with you.
Rabbi Joe is also available to discuss presentations on Judaism to Church
groups, Youth Groups, Civic organizations, school groups, and other
community groups and organizations.
Rabbi Joe can be contacted through the congregation by telephone, or by
email.
Email
Rabbi Joe Blair
Temple House
of Israel 540-886-4091
Beth El
Congregation 540-434-2744
This is only Rabbi Joe's schedule. You can also visit the
temple calendar.
Last updated
October 07, 2008
