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Rabbi Lisa Edwards came to BCC in 1994, the year of her ordination
by Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR).
Known as a Rabbi's rabbi, Rabbi Edwards brings a profound
love of study and the written word to her rabbinate. She holds
a Ph.D. in literature, which may account for the references
as diverse as Shakespeare, modern poetry, and New Yorker cartoons
that enrich her drashes.
Known for her memorable sermons, congregants often feel
that she's speaking to their feelings and experiences. Her
BCC Torah study group has met every Thursday for 12 years.
She tends as carefully to our congregation's emotional and
life cycle needs as she does our educational and spiritual
yearnings. Rabbi Edwards has married many couples, as well
as lovingly officiated at our baby-namings, funerals, and
welcomings to the covenant.
As a leader of the world's first gay and lesbian synagogue,
Rabbi Edwards is frequently profiled in the media and is a
sought-after spokesperson on issues of faith and sexuality.
She is known as a thoughtful and reasoned advocate for same-sex
marriage, environmental protection, and social and economic
justice. Rooted in Jewish teaching, Rabbi Edwards speaks eloquently
to the need for individuals and communities to come together
to bring into being the world we dream is possible.
Rabbi Edwards teaches on an adjunct basis at HUC in the
rabbinical school, and at USC in the Jewish Studies program.
Her writing appears in a half-dozen books, including Kulanu
: All of Us (a URJ handbook for congregational inclusion of
gay and lesbian Jews); The Women's Torah Commentary: New Insights
from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions; Lesbian
Rabbis: The First Generation; and Mentsh: On Being Queer and
Jewish (edited by Angela Brown), where she wrote the foreword.
She has been a frequent guest columnist in LA's Jewish Journal,
the second-largest circulation Jewish publication in the U.S.
She is also a co-editor of the revised editions (1999) of
the Reform Movement textbook, Introduction to Judaism: a Sourcebook,
and its companion Instructor's Guide and Curriculum. She is
the “Spiritual Role Model” in the book Outspoken by Michael
Thomas Ford, a book of interviews of GLBT people intended
for a youth audience.
A couple since 1985, Rabbi Edwards and Tracy Moore were
married in a Jewish ceremony in 1995 (officiated by Rabbi
Laurence Edwards and Rabbi Laura Geller), and in a civil LEGAL
ceremony, officiated by Speaker of the CA State Assembly Karen
Bass, on July 13, 2008.
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