Some people in the United States may not have heard of Rabbi Jon-Jay Tilsen of Westville’s Congregation Beth-El Israel (BEKI). Their loss.
So concludes the Jewish news outlet Tablet.
Tablet named Tilsen to its list of “10 American Rabbis You Haven’t Heard Of, But Should,” rabbis whose “influence is felt in every denomination, in every corner of the country.”
“[W]hat sets Tilsen apart is his willingness to guide from the side, rather than take center stage, enabling his congregants to shine in their own right,” Tablet wrote. “As one put it, ‘He knows how to get out of the way. That doesn’t mean we get less from our rabbi. It means we get more from everyone else.’”
Click here to read what else Tablet wrote about TIlsen, who has led BEKI since 1993, and about the other nine rabbis you should hear about.
Click here to read about Tilsen’s work greening his shul.
Click here to read a portion of a 2008 Yom Kippur sermon by Tilsen pleading for civility in political discourse.
Click here, here, here and here to sample some of Tilsen’s eulogies of New Haveners.
And click on the above video to watch him grant a political party a Days of Awe pardon in 2012.
