“The synagogue must be, at its core, a sacred community of people building relationships and connections to each other and to God and in the process find meaning, purpose and personal value and worth. Therefore, the synagogue, a kehillah kedosah—holy community-- is about study, healing, friendship, ritual and tradition, service, and prayer, for these are the pathways to living a life in relationship and connection…to feeling the sparks of holiness that are within us and all around us”
Lisa Sari Bellows is proud to have celebrated her tenth year anniversary at Congregation Beth Am, where she served as an assistant rabbi and associate rabbi before being installed as senior rabbi in November 2009. She works to make meaningful worship more enjoyable and on creating a culture in our community that is inclusive and welcoming.
Rabbi Bellows is a member of the Chicago Board of Rabbi’s Executive Committee and serves on the Advisory Council to the Chicago Jewish Healing Network. She is an active participant in the Northwest Inter-faith Council and served as chairperson of the local chapter of the Women’s Rabbinic Network.
Rabbi Bellows has a strong commitment to ongoing professional development. In 2010, she completed the Management for Jewish Leadership Executive Program at the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. She is also a graduate of the Rabbinic Leadership Program of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, where she currently is a participant in the Jewish Spiritually and Yoga Teacher Training.
Prior to her tenure at Beth Am, Rabbi Bellows served as Assistant Rabbi and Director of Education at K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Congregation in the Hyde Park community of Chicago She was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1998 and has served congregations in Joplin, Missouri and Victoria, Texas. She received the Chai Award for her service at the Greene Family Camp in Texas.
Rabbi Bellows earned a Master of Arts in Divinity from the University of Chicago, and graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago Honors College with a Bachelors Degree and Master of Arts in Political Science. She is a native Chicagoan and a proud alumna of the Solomon Schechter Day School. Rabbi Bellows is married to Kyle and has three children, Gabriella, Lucille and Nathan.
