Rabbi Monique Mayer grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. She loves all things Jewish, and she uses music, text, and ritual to engage children and adults, helping them to find meaning in and connection with Judaism in the twenty-first century. She seeks to encourage each member to become engaged in Judaism, taking an active interest and role in the community—whether through social action, taking services, study, music, working on the newsletter, or visiting those who are ill (just to name a few possibilities!).
Rabbi Monique came to us from North London Reform Synagogue where she served as interim associate Rabbi, and she has worked in a variety of Progressive communities throughout the UK. She received rabbinic ordination from Leo Baeck College, and holds a Master’s degree in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Rabbi Monique is the author of the Liberal Judaism Ba’alei Tefillah programme for training lay leaders (beginning its fourth cohort in 2015) and has also developed a music course for Jewish educators for the Department of Jewish Education (LBC).
When not in Bristol, Rabbi Monique is usually with her husband, Nigel Finkel, at their home in Wales, along with their menagerie of animals.
