Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie

Social activist and storyteller, writer and community leader, Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie (he/him) is the co-founding spiritual leader of the Lab/Shul community in New York City and the creator of the ritual theater company Storahtelling, Inc.  Israeli-born, he’s been living in New York since 1998. He received his rabbinical ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 2016, the 39th generation of rabbis in his family and the first one to be openly queer.  Rabbi Amichai is the star of Sabbath Queen, Sandi DuBowski’s award-winning documentary film 21 years in the making, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2024. Watch the trailer here.  Rabbi Amichai serves on the executive board of Rabbis for Human Rights, and is a co-founding member of the Jewish Emergent Network and a founding faculty member of the Reboot Network. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Sulha Peace Project for Israeli and Palestinian peacemakers; the Leadership Council of the New York Jewish Agenda; the Advisory Council for the Institute for Jewish Spirituality; and as an adviser to Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance.  He has been named “an iconoclastic mystic” by TimeOut New York, “a calm voice for peace” by NPR, a “rock star” by The New York Times, a “Judaic Pied Piper” by the Denver Westword, a “maverick spiritual leader” by The Times of Israel and “one of the most interesting thinkers in the Jewish world” by the New York Jewish Week. In 2017, he was named one of America’s Top 50 rabbis by The Forward.  In June 2017, Rabbi Amichai published The JOY Proposal with a radical response to the reality of Intermarriage. He took a personal position on this issue, including his resignation from the Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative Movement.  In 2022, Rabbi Amichai began publishing Below the Bible Belt a daily digital project extended over 42 months, critically queering and re-reading all 929 chapters of the Hebrew Bible.  Amichai is abba to Alice, Ezra and Cai-Hallel.   

Essays

The Reconstructionist Network

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Serving as central organization of the Reconstructionist movement

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Training the next generation of groundbreaking rabbis

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Modeling respectful conversations on pressing Jewish issues

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Curating original, Jewish rituals, and convening Jewish creatives

Read & Rite

One-stop shop for progressive Jewish books and ritual objects

Havaya Summer Programs

Overnight summer camp and teen Israel experience

Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association

Professional association of Reconstructionist rabbis

Placement Office

Placement resources for rabbis and congregations

Reconstructionist Educators of North America

Professional group for people leading schools in Reconstructionist congregations

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The Reconstructionist Network

A blank white square with no visible content.
A pure white, blank image with no distinguishable features or content.
A blank white square image.

Read & Rite

One-stop shop for progressive Jewish books and ritual objects

Placement Office

Placement resources for rabbis and congregations

Havaya Summer Programs

Overnight summer camp and teen Israel experience

Reconstructionist Educators of North America

Professional group for people leading schools in Reconstructionist congregations

Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association

Professional association of Reconstructionist rabbis