Rabbi Micah Becker-Klein
Rabbi Micah has over 25 years of experience in synagogue leadership, musical and liturgical creativity, education, and Jewish communal life. With dual Bachelor’s degrees from Columbia University (Comparative Religion) and the Jewish Theological Seminary (Jewish Liturgy), Rabbi Micah also has a Master’s degree in Hebrew Letters and was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2000. He was an assistant editor and contributor to the Kol Haneshamah High Holy Day Prayerbook (Mahzor) published by the Reconstructionist Press. His experience includes serving as Rabbi in three communities, a Jewish community day school, and as the Director of Jewish Life and Education at the Springfield, MA Jewish Community Center.
Rabbi Micah has been on faculty at the University of Delaware, Keene State College (New Hampshire), the Keene State Holocaust Education Center, and the Delaware Technical Culinary Training Program.
He has leadership experience in interfaith and community relations and served as the President of the Delaware Association of Rabbis and Cantors. A believer in proactive grassroots peacemaking, he helped establish the Steel Drums Peace Drums Project program in 2014 to help foster connections through music between Israeli middle school-age children from Jewish, Muslim, Druze, and Christian backgrounds.
Micah is a multi-instrumentalist, and an original member of the Reconstructionist musical group "Shabbat Unplugged.” a group of six musicians and rabbis that helped create what emerged as the Friday Night Alive service. Having made music together since 1995, “Shabbat Unplugged” was invited to create the JRF Passover recording “A Night of Questions” (published in 2000) which includes his original musical composition for Psalms 118, “Ki Leolam Hasdo” (God’s Love is Everlasting”). Rabbi Micah has recorded “Walking Humbly” (2003), “Kosherdawg” (2016), the Passover recording “A Night of Questions” (2000), and appears as a guest on numerous other recordings. He was a founding committee member of the Reconstructionist Musical Consortium called “Harmoniyah”, home to the Reconstructionist movement's musical incubator. Most recently he worked with a Jewish-inspired Reggae group, Mt Zion Reggae. Micah's music and songwriting embrace a renewed Jewish spirit by bringing new melodies and meaning to ancient sentiments. His music is available on Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube. You can also see examples of his live music and teachings on YouTube.
Serving 12 years on the board for Camp Havaya (formerly Camp JRF) and as faculty during that time, he helped orient the education and musical leadership style. At the Hazon Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center active adult camp program, Rabbi Micah has served as Rabbi in Residence since 2014 leading the musical Friday night and Saturday morning services, teaching classes, guiding daily hikes, and offering a concert of music during the bonfire is part of this annual program.
Rabbi Micah is also an expert in the field of kosher food and has published on the topic of Kosher Meat and Sustainable Agricultural practice. Rabbi Micah also created an artisanal coffee roasting business called Roasting Rabbi Coffee. Rabbi Micah embraces the fullness of Jewish life and world experience through education, meditation, music, and food. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, biking, traveling, and cooking. He is married to Rachel and is the father to Sophie and Reuben.
