Rabbi Yael B. Ridberg

Yael B. Ridberg serves as the rabbi of West End Synagogue, in NYC. A 1997 graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Yael served for two years as the first Marshall T. Meyer Rabbinic Fellow at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in New York and three years as the associate rabbi of West End before becoming the sole rabbi of that congregation. Yael received her BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1990 in Communication Arts and Women’s Studies. She has been invited to speak, lead workshops and services for many organizations including The Jewish Funder’s Network, UJA Task Force on the Jewish Woman, AIDS Interfaith New York, Planned Parenthood of NYC, UAHC Commission on Synagogue Affiliation, Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, Ma’yan: The Jewish Women’s Project of the JCC in Manhattan, and the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation. She was recently named by Jewish Women International as one of 10 Women to Watch in 2003.

In addition to her congregational responsibilities, Rabbi Ridberg serves on the Executive Committee of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, the Rabbinic Council of the New Israel Fund, the Board of Plaza Jewish Community Chapel, and has led a bereavement support group through the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services and the Jewish Healing Center. Rabbi Ridberg serves as a commentator for the forthcoming “Guide to Jewish Reconstructionist Practice” to be published by the Reconstructionist Movement. She lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her husband and daughter.