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Where do you Encounter God? Rabbi Avi Novis-Deutsch on Parshat Vayakhel-Pekudei

In Parshat Vayakhel Pekudei the Israelites receive further instructions on constructing the Tabernacle.  The instructions specify creating elaborate wall panels. Rabbi Avi Novis-Deutsch, Dean of Schechter Rabbinical Seminary, asks why we choose to encounter God within the walls of synagogues and temples.  Are we limiting God to a certain space? What happens when we leave sanctuaries and seek the Divine in the outside world?

Avi Novis-Deutsch is the former Dean of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary. Ordained as a Masorti rabbi by the SRS in 2003, Rabbi  Novis-Deutsch also holds an MA in Jewish Studies from JTS. He served for nine years as a pulpit rabbi at two Masorti congregations in Israel, most recently, at Haminyan Hamishpachti Masorti Kfar Veradim. Rabbi Novis-Deutsch also worked for two years as a Jewish educator in Berkeley in the Bay Area, California.  He is married to Dr. Nurit Novis-Deutsch. They and their three children live on Kibbutz Hanaton.

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