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Rabbi Linda Joseph was born in Melbourne, Australia. “Discovered” by a professor at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion who recognized the wide ranging Jewish community work she had undertaken- from working in major Jewish organizations, counseling, founding study groups and Chavurot, leading services and teaching- she was convinced to apply to rabbinic school. Rabbi Linda Joseph was ordained at HUC-JIR in Cincinnati in 1994 and continued her studies in Jewish Education at HUC-JIR in Los Angeles where she graduated with another Master’s Degree in 1995. She served student pulpits in DeKalb, IL, and Bristol, TN, and led alternative High Holy Day services at Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco, CA, and served as an educational intern at Temple Ahavath Shalom in Northridge, CA.

Since ordination, Rabbi Linda Joseph, as a World Union for Progressive Judaism-sponsored student, served as a rabbi at (what is now known as) Etz Chayim Progressive Synagogue and for the Victorian Union for Progressive Judaism in her country of birth, Australia. Back in the United States, she found a home in the small community of the Jewish Congregation of Kinnelon in NJ and then became the Associate Rabbi at Temple Beth El of Boca Raton, FL. Following her time in congregations, she went to work in the Southeast Regional Office of the Union for Reform Judaism as the Senior Assistant Regional Director and then Regional Director, where she travelled and worked with Tree of Life Congregation in Columbia, SC, along with all the other Reform Jewish congregations in the Southeast United States. Following the restructure of the URJ, Rabbi Linda Joseph served as a Lay Leader Liaison with the URJ leadership, but, ultimately, decided to re-enter congregational life. She spent five years as the solo rabbi at Beth Chaverim Reform Congregation in Ashburn, VA, served as the interim rabbi for the Tree of Life Congregation in Columbia, SC and, most recently was the rabbi for Har Sinai in Baltimore.  Rabbi Joseph joined Bet Aviv on July 1, 2019.

Rabbi Linda Joseph describes herself as loving God, the Jewish people and Jewish traditions, creativity and texts. She enjoys teaching, prayer, community and connection. Storytelling, making art, listening to music, writing, reading and cooking are some of her passions.

We are so proud to welcome Rabbi Linda Joseph to Bet Aviv.

Some of Beth Rubens’s earliest influences in Jewish music were as a member of the Leo Baeck Temple youth choir, in her home town of Los Angeles, CA. She sang under the direction of well-known cantor and composer, William Sharlin. After studying French language and literature at Vassar College, with additional study in music and voice, she went on to receive her Masters of Music in Vocal Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She spent many years working as a professional singer and early childhood music teacher, in the Bay Area, CA, and New York, and then moved to Washington, DC in 2002, for her husband’s position at the University of MD Smith School of Business in College Park, MD. 

Beth continued to perform and teach in the DMV area, both as an early childhood and elementary music teacher at the Levine School of Music, Musikids, the Washington Conservatory of Music, Mundo Verde Public Charter School, and eventually Rochambeau, the French International School. She has performed with several opera and theater companies in the region, including the Washington Savoyards, Opera Theater of Northern VA, the InSeries, Washington Shakespeare, Washington Opera Society, as well as numerous concerts and choral engagements. 

Beth returned to her early love of singing Jewish music when she met Rabbi/Cantor Arnold Saltzman in 2009 and began as a cantorial soloist at Hevrat Shalom Congregation, in Rockville, MD. There she was mentored by Rabbi Saltzman, who would lead services, and run back and forth to the piano to serve as accompanist as well.

Beth lives in Northwest DC, with her husband Brent, son Nathaniel (a high school sophomore) and daughter Elena (when she isn’t off studying as a freshman at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA). They have been active members of musically-rich Temple Micah in DC since 2011. She maintains a private home voice studio and directs middle and high school students in musical theater productions, and still sings in an occasional concert or opera production. Beth is thrilled to be joining Bet Aviv Congregation and to have a new opportunity to share her joy for singing Jewish music. When she isn’t singing or teaching, Beth can be found practicing yoga, skiing, walking in the woods, assisting her husband make delicious food, or cuddling up with her two cats, Ollie and Holly.