Rabbi Rena Singer joined Temple Sholom as an Assistant Rabbi in July 2020, shortly after being ordained by Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR). Prior to HUC-JIR, Rabbi Singer earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Cum Laude, from Brandeis University.

She also spent two year at New York City’s Hadar Institute, an experientially immersive and innovative yeshiva. Rena likes to say she’s always looking to find “new ways to say ancient sentences.” This is evident in an initiative she and a close friend, Rabbi Samantha Frank, undertook in their third year of rabbinical school. They sought to engage with today’s younger generation and seized it by creating Modern Ritual.

Modern Ritual is a Jewish Instagram account with relevant, timely posts about Shabbat, holidays and Jewish concepts. Through her work on Modern Ritual, Rabbi Singer has learned how to use social media as an educational tool and today the account boosts over 14,000 followers. As she says, “our goal is to empower and inspire people to live Jewishly at home. I am so excited for the ways that my work with Modern Ritual will inform my work at Temple Sholom and vice versa.”

Rabbi Singer has settled into life in Chicago and has brought her love of Torah and Talmudic learning and teaching to Temple Sholom.