Short Bio 

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, LLB., Ph.D.

 

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino is the Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Beth Shalom in Needham, MA.

Born in Turkey, he received his law degree from the University of Istanbul (Faculty of Law, 1959), his rabbinic ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (Cincinnati, 1966) and his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1975) in the field of Bible and ancient Near Eastern Studies. In 1991 the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion bestowed upon him a D.D.

Before coming to Needham, Rabbi Sonsino served congregations in Buenos Aires, Philadelphia and Chicago. After his retirement from Beth Shalom, he volunteered his services at Bet Shalom, a nascent Reform Jewish congregation in Barcelona, Spain, and other small synagogues in the Iberian Peninsula.

Rabbi Sonsino has authored numerous books and articles, including Motive Clauses in Hebrew Law, Finding God (also with D. Syme) and What Happens After I Die? (also with D. Syme), The Many Faces of God , Modern Judaism, Six Jewish Spiritual Paths, And God Spoke These Words (commentary of the 10 Commandments),  Did Moses Really Have Horns?Vivir Como Judio. He was the editor of the CCAR Journal (1997-2001). Throughout his career, Rabbi Sonsino has chaired various committees, both regionally and nationally. His blog postings (SONSINO’S BLOG) are found in rsonsino.blogspot.com, with over 700,000 viewers around the world. In the past, Rabbi Sonsino taught at Boston College and at Framingham State University, and lectured in many parts of the country and around the world.

Rabbi and Mrs. Sonsino now live at the Willows in Westborough, MA.