RabbiHaLevi's Profile

Baruch HaLevi grew up in Omaha, Nebraska (under the name Jason Perelman) and attended the University of Kansas where he received a B.A. degree in philosophy. Upon graduation, he spent a year working in New York City as a motivational speaker. Shortly thereafter, he decided to formally resume his spiritual and academic pursuits and moved to Israel where he began his Judaic studies, first, at Livnot and later at the Pardes Institute (Jerusalem). In 1997, Rabbi HaLevi entered rabbinical school at the Ziegler School of Rabbinical Studies, University of Judaism in Los Angeles, CA.

Rabbi HaLevi spent five years as a rabbinic intern at Ohr HaTorah synagogue in Los Angeles under the guidance of his mentor, Rabbi Mordecai Finley. In 2002, Rabbi HaLevi accepted a position Tifereth Israel, a synagogue in Des Moines, Iowa where he, along with his wife Ariela, spent four years re-invigorating and re-energizing the historic congregation. During that time, they celebrated the birth of their son Yehuda and a couple years later, their daughter Maya and most recently their newest edition the birth of Shoshana.

Rabbi HaLevi and his family moved to Swampscott, MA in the summer of 2006 to begin his tenure at Congregation Shirat Hayam, a newly created synagogue crafted out of the merger of two previous congregations. CSH is now a vibrant, flourishing center of Jewish community, education and spirituality and one of the fastest growing synagogues in Greater Boston.

In February, 2007 Rabbi HaLevi received his Doctoral degree in Ministry, with an emphasis in Jewish Spirituality, from the The Graduate Theological Foundation of Oxford University. This degree is the culmination of Rabbi HaLevi’s continued focus upon Kabbalah & Chassidut (Jewish mysticism), spirituality and his role as a spiritual guide in the lives of anyone who seeks out his guidance.

Besides his primary passions as a husband and a father, Rabbi HaLevi is an avid student of mysticism, meditation, yoga as well as a passionate writer. Ultimately, Rabbi B is committed to reclaiming an authentic Judaism which is inclusive of Jews, Semi-Jews & Non-Jews; built upon the foundational texts, beliefs and practices of traditional Judaism, reclaiming ancient, esoteric Jewish practices as well as simultaneously re-invigorating this tradition and synagogue life in creative, modern ways.