Welcome to Temple Beth Shalom

Meet Our Rabbi

Rabbi Howard L. Apothaker, Ph.D. has served as Rabbi for Temple Beth Shalom of Columbus/New Albany, Ohio since 1980. As a student rabbi, he served congregations in New York City. He has also served a start-up congregation in Beer Sheva, Israel.

A native Philadelphian and honors graduate of Brown University (1974), Rabbi Apothaker was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (NY, 1980). He holds an M.A. (HUC-JIR, NY, 1977) and a Ph.D. in Rabbinic Literature (HUC-JIR, Cincinnati, 1996). He has been a Visiting Graduate Student at New York University, The Jewish Theological Seminary in Jerusalem and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has won numerous academic fellowships, including the Daniel Jeremy Silver Fellowship at Harvard University (1999-2000). He has served as an adjunct instructor at Capital University and The Ohio State University and has lectured, inter alia, at Franklin University, Otterbein College, Ohio Dominican University, and Mt. Vernon Nazarene University. He has written a book on classical rabbinic midrash -Sifra, Dibbura de Sinai: Rhetorical Formulae, Literary Structures, and Legal Traditions (Hebrew Union College Press, 2000), has published numerous scholarly articles, and has lectured at a variety of academic conferences.

Rabbi Apothaker currently serves as co-president of B.R.E.A.D., a faith-based justice coalition. He has served as president of the Columbus Board of Rabbis and on numerous local boards, including Columbus Torah Academy, Columbus Jewish Federation, Leo Yassenoff Jewish Community Center, Jewish Family Services, Wexner Heritage Village, Jewish Scouting of Central Ohio, Columbus Jewish Historical Society, Jewish National Fund, Ohio Holocaust Education Council, and Central Ohio State of Israel Bonds.

Rabbi Apothaker has also served on the Board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, for which he has also served on a number of national committees, including the Committee on Reform Jewish Principles (1999). He has served as president of the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley Association of Reform Rabbis.

In addition to congregational and Jewish community activities, Rabbi Apothaker was the founding president of the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio and the local chapter of Children in Grief. He is a founder of the Congregational Alliance of New Albany (where he has served as president). Rabbi Apothaker has served on the faculty of the URJ regional camp, the Goldman Union Camp Institute. Among other honors, Rabbi Apothaker has received the Buckeye Boys Ranch Award in recognition of Community Accomplishments and Continuing Influence in Religion with in the Community.

Rabbi Apothaker was a college wrestler, rowed on the crew team, and still participates in a variety of athletic activities. He has composed liturgical music and enjoys singing. He is married to Marcie Golden and has two daughters, Elianna and Leah.

Rabbi Apothaker can be reached via email at drabbia@tbsohio.org.

Selected High Holy Days Sermons from the Rabbi