Since her ordination in 1980, Ellen Lewis has enjoyed a bi-vocational career as both a rabbi and a psychotherapist. She spent 35 years serving synagogues in Dallas, Texas; Summit, NJ (named Rabbi Honorata); and Washington, NJ (named Rabbi Emerita). She was a founder and co-chair of the Women’s Rabbinic Network. She is an active member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and currently serves on the Task Force on the Experience of Women in the Rabbinate. She is also a certified pastoral counselor and is a member of the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education.
While serving as a congregational rabbi, Ellen Lewis became increasingly interested in why people do what they do, leading her to train at the Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies and become a licensed psychoanalyst. That training in emotional education led to her focusing on helping rabbis and cantors manage the challenges of the professional arena, including collegial conflict, work-life balance, gender issues, and personal and professional transformations, with the overall aim of an increased capacity for self-care, reflection and contentment. She is in private practice in Bernardsville, NJ, and New York City.
Ellen Lewis’ writings and teachings have focused on the intersection of psychoanalytic thinking and Judaism with a concentration on the rabbinate and Jewish communal life. Her essay “Changing Your Past: Reflections on Forgiveness,” appears in the new Mishkan HaNefesh: Machzor for the Days of Awe. She has contributed chapters to The Sacred Calling: Four Decades of Women in the Rabbinate (“Funny, You Don’t Look Like a Rabbi”) and to Jewish Pastoral Care: A Practical Handbook (“Preparing for the Chupah: Premarital Counseling”). She has also written in the area of sexual abuse, including the unfortunately timely “Preventing Clergy Sexual Abuse” in Keeping Faith in Rabbis: A Community Conversation about Rabbinic Education.
Sessions in which Ellen Lewis participates
Hotel Irvine - Think Tank
Meeting
Rex Perlmeter, CCAR (Participant)
Ellen Lewis, Professional Supervision for Clergy (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Think Tank
Meeting
Rex Perlmeter, CCAR (Participant)
Ellen Lewis, Professional Supervision for Clergy (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom - Salon B
Workshop
Hara Person, CCAR (Participant)
Diana L. Ho, Management Arts, Inc. (Participant)
Ellen Lewis, Professional Supervision for Clergy (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Think Tank
Meeting
Ellen Lewis, Professional Supervision for Clergy (Participant)
Sessions in which Ellen Lewis attends
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom - Salon C
General Session
Dahlia Lithwick, Slate (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - The Backyard
Reception
Hotel Irvine - Pavilion
Meal
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom - Salon C
Worship
Mari Chernow, Temple Chai (Participant)
Jeffrey Saxe, Temple Rodef Shalom (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom Foyer
Break
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom - Salon C
Keynote
Betty Yee, State of California (Participant)
Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Sacramento, CA (Participant)
Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles (Participant)
Dara Frimmer (Participant)
Irvine, CA - Offsite
Meal
Hotel Irvine - Think Tank
Meeting
Rex Perlmeter, CCAR (Participant)
Ellen Lewis, Professional Supervision for Clergy (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom - Salon C
Workshop
Hara Person, CCAR (Participant)
Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus (Participant)
Amy Schwartzman, Temple Rodef Shalom,Falls Church, VA (Participant)
Carole Balin (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Think Tank
Meeting
Rex Perlmeter, CCAR (Participant)
Ellen Lewis, Professional Supervision for Clergy (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - The Backyard
Reception
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom - Salon C
Keynote
Gilad Kariv, IMPJ (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Pavilion
Meal
Hotel Irvine - Quail Hill
Worship
Rex Perlmeter, CCAR (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom - Salon C
Workshop
Susan Samueli (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom - Salon D
Workshop
Don Maurer (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Theater
Workshop
Laura Geller, Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills (Participant)
Helen Dennis, Helen Dennis & Associates (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom - Salon C
Workshop
Pearl BarLev (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom - Salon E
Meal
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom - Salon C
General Session
Mike Feuer (Participant)
Joel Mosbacher, Temple Shaaray Tefila, New York, NY (Moderator)
Sally Weber (Participant)
Adam Friedman (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Quail Hill
Worship
Lizzie Weiss, Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills (Participant)
Scott Hausman-Weiss, Congregation Shma Koleinu (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom - Salon C
Keynote
Sister Simone Campbell, Network (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom - Salon C
General Session
Steve Fox, CCAR (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom - Salon B
Workshop
Hara Person, CCAR (Participant)
Diana L. Ho, Management Arts, Inc. (Participant)
Ellen Lewis, Professional Supervision for Clergy (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Think Tank
Meeting
Ellen Lewis, Professional Supervision for Clergy (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom - Salon E
Workshop
Tamara Eskenazi, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion (Participant)
Hara Person, CCAR (Participant)
Andrea Weiss, HUC-JIR (Participant)
Hotel Irvine - Grand Ballroom - Salon C
Keynote
Mark Hetfield, HIAS (Participant)
Judy Schindler (Moderator)