"Awe rather than faith is the cardinal attitude of the religious Jew."
- Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

A New Kind of Synagogue:
The Adventure Rabbi Program is a cutting edge model of synagogue life appropriate for 21st century Judaism. Gone are the days when Jews felt obligated to belong to a synagogue. Today, 70% of American Jews do not belong to a congregation.

In fact, many Jews today don't feel obliged by Judaism at all. Judaism has become a choice and if the religion does not enhance and enrich our lives, if Judaism is not relevant, meaningful and accessible, many of us opt out completely.

The Adventure Rabbi Program puts meaning back into Judaism. We met people where they are (often literally hiking or skiing) and show them how Judaism can enhance their lives, without having to give up their weekends or making big pledges. Through our activities and community, adults and kids come to love Judaism.

We teach age old Jewish concepts like taking some time off each week and stop trying to be perfect, but we teach them in a modern context. We climb mountains, go skiing, play the guitar and sing around a campfire. We have thoughtful discussions and debates based on a scientific and rational view of the world. (We have lots of physicists and rocket scientists in our congregation.)

We don't simply teach Bar and Bat Mitzvah students Hebrew; we teach them the relationship skills, based on Jewish teachings, that they need to become responsible and happy teenagers. We present Judaism in a way that fits into modern American life.

Our Programs Are in Sync With What Jews In America Are Looking For:

Membership:
We do not require yearly membership dues (although we offer them for those who prefer a traditional model). Rather, we offer pay as you go fee for services. Gone are the days when Jews would willingly pay 3% of their income for synagogue dues even when they only attended High Holiday services. Today's Jews ask, "What and I getting for my money?" and only wish to pay for what they use.

At the Adventure Rabbi Program, you become part of our community just by showing up.

Services:
We do not offer weekly Shabbat Services. Our constituency doesn't want to go to weekly services. (Do you? Lots of synagogues offer them so we can recommend one to you.)

Adventure Rabbi people are busy with full lives and on weekends we ski, hike, party, hang out, go dancing and relax. When the weekend arrives, we don't want to get dressed up to come to synagogue to count pages and have the rabbi preach at us and tell us how we should be more Jewish.

Also, we have found that when an event is offered weekly, potential participants tend to say, "Oh I'll just go next week," and never actually go. Monthly events increase and concentrate attendance.

Rather we offer one Friday night and one Saturday a month. On Fridays we host dinners or brief joyful services. On saturdays we offer hikes or service on skis. Our Shabbat hikes and ski days are great examples of how we meet out participants where they are. "OK so you are going skiing on Shabbat? Let me come with you and I will show you how to make it Jewish."

Participant Involvement & Power to Create:
Many of of our most popular programs were created at the suggestion of our participants. For example, Passover in Moab was dreamed up by Kara and Steve Mertz. Our Adventure Rabbi Kids (ARK 2) program for kids ages 6-9 was suggested by a parent who had two kids with lots of friends that she wanted to educate.

Unlike large synagogues, with institutional traditions, chains of commands and committee charts, we are a nimble and flexible program. We have few committees and fewer meetings. New program ideas, or at least ones that can support themselves financially, can easily and quickly be brought to fruition.

Prayer:
We do not believe that prayer changes the will of a divine being. Therefore, we feel liberated to expand and contract our liturgical choices to create a service that is meaningful. We do believe that communal prayers offers an opportunity to connect with others in our community, our families and the Jewish people all over the world as well as to look within ourselves.

Origins of the Program:
If you really want the inside scoop on how this program was started, read the forward of Rabbi Korngold's book God in the Wilderness: Rediscovering the Spirituality of the Great OUtdoors wit the Adventure Rabbi. (Doubleday, 2008)

But the official pitch goes like this. Adventure Rabbi Program was envisioned by Rabbi Jamie S. Korngold, who has experienced her most vibrant Jewish experiences in the outdoors. From scaling mountains to running ultramarthons, she has found that the spirituality of the wilderness awakens Judaism.

Surrounded by the raw wonder of creation, Rabbi Korngold helps people experience an inner peace and an abiding connection to That Which is Greater Than Ourselves. In the wilderness, she believes, it is possible to distance ourselves from politics and protocol and allow the awareness of the connectedness of all things to permeate our souls.

Come join us; let the wilderness awaken your Judaism.

Executive Director:
Rabbi Jamie S. Korngold serves as the spiritual leader of the Adventure Rabbi Program. Rabbi Korngold received her ordination from Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion, the academic, spiritual and professional development center for Reform Judaism. Rabbi Korngold is a member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (the international rabbinic association of Reform Judaism) Chaver (The Boulder Colorado Rabbinical Council) and a member of Synagogue 3000 Emergent Leader's group.

Creed:
The Adventure Rabbi Program is philosophically and theologically aligned with Progressive Judaism in general and the Reform and Reconstructionist Movements, more specifiaclly.We are dedicated to creating opportunities to enhance our participants relationship with self, community and God. We provide a Jewish backdrop and context for their lives and through positive, communal Jewish experiences improve our participants sense of Jewish identity

Our rabbis are ordained by the Reform or Reconstructionist Movement’s seminaries, and are expected to teach and preach in ways that are consistent with the mores of Progressive Judaism.

As liberal Jews, we look to our tradition to provide wisdom, insight and guidance. We then couple our ancient teachings with modern interpretations, in order to find appropriate forms of contemporary religious expression.

We are committed to equality of women in all forms of practice and worship, inclusion of people of all sexual orientations, and outreach to interfaith families and couples.

Life-Cycle Events
The Adventure Rabbi Program offers life-cycle events for all stages of Jewish life. Since we do not have a building, these events are held in private homes, rented facilities, or wilderness venues.

Brit Milah and Brit Bat are the beginning of life ceremonies in which the Jewish infant is entered into the covenant with God. The parents commit themselves to raise their child with 1) the study of Torah, 2) the practice of mitzvot (Jewish ritual/ethics) and 3) to prepare their child to have a Jewish home of his or her own someday.

Bar/Bat Mitzvah: Rabbis from The Adventure Rabbi Program officiate at Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremonies for candidates who have completed the requirements of our B’nai Mitzvah program. We`have also created a Bar and Bat Yisrael program for students who wish to focus less on Hebrew and more on "mensch" training.

Weddings: Rabbis from The Adventure Rabbi Program officiate at weddings in all sorts of venues including synagogues, back-yards, hotels, homes, parks, and mountain tops.

Funerals: Rabbis from The Adventure Rabbi Program officiate at funerals

Teaching
The Adventure Rabbi Program specializes in experiential teaching of eco Judaism as well as Jewish ritual, practice and theology. Our outdoor programs are infused with teaching moments. From the Rabbi’s sermons on the Torah potion of the week, to discussions of contemporary theologians such as Martin Buber and Abraham Joshua Heschel, every event is filled with learning opportunities.

Rabbi Korngold is an expert in the field of Rabbinic texts dealing with Jewish attitudes about nature, and teaches from Talmud, Midrash and other sacred texts. Rabbi Korngold also has a strong background in Jewish ethics and frequently teaches on the subject of Jewish ethics for every day living.

Children’s Programs

We offer Ima (Mommy) and Me classes for children and their parents as well as exciting family programs on our retreats.

We also run educational retreats for youth, often sponsored by other synagogues or youth groups.

Pastoral Counseling and Chaplaincy
The rabbis of the Adventure Rabbi Program are trained to provide pastoral counseling.

Pastoral counseling is provided at the request of individuals who need spiritual assistance with lifecycle events such as when contemplating conversion, preparing for marriage, coping with divorce, dealing with death etc. Pastoral counseling is also provided for individuals who want to clarify or better understand specific aspects of their Jewish religious faith.

Rabbis make visits to hospitals, retirement communities and residences to counsel the ill and the dying and to comfort the bereaved.

Rabbi Jamie Korngold: Senior Rabbi and Lead Guide.

Rabbi Korngold is a Reform rabbi, ordained by Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion, where she also received her Masters in Hebrew Letters.

Rabbi Jamie is the author of the best selling book, God in the Wilderness. (Doubleday, 2008)

Rabbi Korngold's resume is eclectic, including such seemingly divergent experiences as congregational rabbi in Canada, street musician in Japan, Emergency Medical Technician, and Outward Bound Guide.

(Click Here to see Rabbi Korngold's resume)
(Click Here to see Rabbi Korngold's Personal Statement)

Rabbi Lewis "Buz" Bogage

We are proud to have Rabbi Bogage as part of our rabbinic team. Rabbi Bogage brings years of experience to the Adventure Rabbi Program. His rabbinate has taken him all over the world where he has continually explored different ways of reaching Jews.

Rabbi Bogage was born and raised in New England and was graduated from
Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. He studied at Columbia University while serving as Rabbi the Central Synagogue of New York City. He continued graduate studies at the university of Denver while serving as Rabbi of Temple Micah.

Rabbi Bogage has received his graduate degrees from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and was ordained a Rabbi and received his Doctorate from the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Rabbi Bogage has visited communities all over the world including Africa, Iran, India and Europe.He served the Jewish Community in India and also helped to organize Jewish communities in the Far East.

Rabbi Bogage served as Rabbi and Professor of Modern Jewish Philosophy and Religious Thought at University of South Florida and DePauw University in central Indiana.

He is retired and lives in Denver where he loves being in the outdoors, hiking, biking canoeing and fishing.

Rabbi Stephen Booth-Nadav

Rabbi Booth-Nadav joined our staff in 2009, after 7 years of co-guiding an Adventure Rabbi B'nai Mitzvah hiking weekend in Rocky Mountain National Park with Rabbi Korngold. He brings creativity and excitement to our team.

Rabbi Steve was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, where he crewed on large sailboats on Lake Michigan every summer from seventh grade through college. His B.A. is from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, where he lived for twelve years. In Minneapolis he was a "worker-owner" of the "Freewheel Bicycle Coop."

Rabbi Steve graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia in 1992. His seventeen yrs. in the rabbinate (so far) included three years in Hillel, and fifteen as a congregational rabbi. Most recently he was the rabbi for B'nai Havurah: The Colorado Jewish Reconstructionist Federation in Denver. He is currently a board member of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.

In 1994 Rabbi Steve spent five days camping in Canyon De Chelly on the Navajo reservation with a group of rabbis and Native American spiritual leaders. They shared prayer practices, creation stories, and ways of relating to nature and the earth. It was there that it became clear to Rabbi Steve that his two favorite activities are being in nature and “doing Jewish.”

Rabbi Steve has extensive training and experience in Jewish meditation and spirituality, completing two years in the “Mindfulness Leadership Training” at Elyat Chayyim (with Sylvia Boorstein and Rabbis Sheila Weinberg and Jeff Roth), and two years at “The Institute for Jewish Spirituality.”

Rabbi Steve says his best prayer happens outdoors on a hike. He is delighted to join the staff of “Adventure Rabbi” where he can once again more fully integrate being in nature and “doing Jewish.”

Bookkeeping/Accounting:
Chloe DiVita of DiVita and Associates is in charge of accounting for the Adventure Rabbi Program. Chloe has been with the Adventure Rabbi Program since our inception in November 2001.

Angie Wise is in charge of the financial transactions and bookkeeping for the Adventure Rabbi Program.

Web Development:
Jeff Finkelstein has been with the Adventure Rabbi Program since our inception in Nov 2001 and launched our first website in Feb 2002. Jeff's talent and skills in web development allow Adventure Rabbi members to have an unprecedented level of accessibility to our group and an extremely interactive relationship with our staff. Our easy to use site serves as a model for other religious institutions. Our innovative monthly newsletters help keep our membership in touch with our ever growing list of services.

Raj Seymour, Certified Jewish Environmental Educator

Raj Seymour has been an energetic member of the Adventure Rabbi team for many years. He is the first person to greet you when you arrive at services on Flagstaff mountain, a major force behind the scene at High Holidays who helps make the events run smoothly, and more often than not, one of the guides on our hiking trips. Raj also serves on our Leadership Council, helping to shape the vision of the Adventure Rabbi Program and bring that dream to fruition.

In 2009, Raj received a grant from 18 Pomegranates Foundation to become a Certified Jewish Environmental Educator. He also completed a 10-day Wilderness First Responder course.

We are thrilled that Raj has taken these concrete steps to further his qualifications as an Adventure Rabbi guide. These new tools will add to those he comes by naturally - a love for working with people in the outdoors, a delightfully easy going personality, and a commitment to creating a thriving Adventure Rabbi community.

Jeff Finkelstein brings to the trail years of experience working in the Jewish camping world. He is proud to be product of the Reform Movement's youth group system. Jeff adds to his Jewish knowledge his skills as a back country guide, ski patroller and mountaineer.

Our Leadership Council is in charge of Vision, Programming and Fundraising. Each member of the Council has a portfolio of activity of which they are in charge. The Council meets regularly throughout the year.

Dr. Noah Finkelstein: President of Council
Noah Finkelstein is an award-winning and nationally-recognized, associate professor of physics at the University of Colorado. In the last six years Prof. Finkelstein has built one of the largest and best recognized research groups specializing in physics education in the country. With colleagues, he manages roughly 20 people (graduate students, postdocs and staff) and millions of dollars in funding. Finkelstein is considered a national leader in the field, was elected to and serves on four national boards which help develop and guide the fields of physics education and physics education research. He additionally serves as a consultant or advisor on seven national-scale research projects and has written and spoken extensively on the topic (with over 50 peer reviewed papers and over 50 invited addresses). From 2000-2003, he served on the Board of Directors of Hillel of San Diego, where he developed and supported the vision of the area-wide Hillel programs, and developed stronger ties among undergraduates, graduates and faculty involved in Hillel. He currently serves on the Advisory Board for Boulder Hillel. Finkelstein has been actively involved in building and supporting Jewish communities since the 1980's.

Dr. Jeannette Domber:
Jeanette Domber is a structural engineer for Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, CO. She most recently led the Ball team, which was tasked with designing the hardware for the repair of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph electronics aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and recently was successfully installed aboard Hubble. Before working on HST, Dr. Domber was the lead structural analyst for an instrument to be flown aboard one of the nation's weather satellite systems. Dr. Domber specializes in the dynamics of precise structures having received her Ph.D. in 2004 from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research focused on the impact of material nonlinearities on the design and stability of large optical structures. In addition, Dr. Domber has served as a leader in the Boulder Jewish community acting as the contact and organizer of the Young Jewish Professionals group before moving on to become active in the Adventure Rabbi organization. She is a graduate of the Denver Federation's Leadership Program.

Raj Seymour:
Raj Seymour has recently been awarded a $1,000 grant from 18 Pomegranates to become a Certified Jewish Environmental Educator. He has also completed his Wilderness First Responder training and is continuing to train as an Adventure Rabbi guide.

Raj has lived in Colorado for the past 17 years. He originally moved to Boulder to attend Colorado University and received a degree in Sociology with a focus on conflict management and juvenile delinquency. During this time he worked at a Jewish sleep over camp in Malibu, ran an after school program and worked at a variety of elementary schools. For the last 12 years he has been a glass artist. In 1997 he opened a retail store in the Hill District of Boulder, and served on the Hill Alliance for a number of years ending in 2006 when he sold his store. He brings to the board strong roots in the community, a solid business background and a very personable demeanor.

David Gorodetzky
David has been involved with the Adventure Rabbi Program since shortly after it began in Boulder. He is a geologist and brings to our community his love of nature, learning, and Jewish community. After several years in Washington, DC, working for both NASA Headquarters and the EPA, David was drawn to Boulder for graduate school in the emerging fields of global climate change and Earth systems science. As a paleoclimatologist at the University of Colorado and NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center, David helped to assemble a detailed history of the Earth’s climate over the last 130,000 years from an ice core nearly 3-miles in length, and extracted from the Greenland ice cap! David now works as the senior science advisor in satellite remote sensing and geophysics for a consulting division of ITT Corporation.

Over his 16 years in Boulder, David has been quite active in the Jewish Community, beginning with service on several committees for the Allied Jewish Federation in Denver. For the past 6 years, David has volunteered his time to the Boulder Steering Committee of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) where he has been active in community outreach. He is also a graduate of ADL's 2-year Glass Partners in Leadership Institute, and is a member of ADL's Regional Board of Directors. David is particularly interested in Jewish education and recently had the opportunity to represent the Adventure Rabbi Program in a community-wide brainstorming session in support of 18 Pomegranates' Dare To Dream initiative.

Jennah Lagomarsino
(coming soon)