Rabbi

Rabbi David Bockman

David Bockman grew up in California and was ordained a rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York in 1986. Since that time, he has served pulpits in Kansas City, Maryland, New Orleans and North Carolina. A fifteen-summer veteran of Camp Ramah, Rabbi Bockman enjoys an innovative and creative approach to Jewish life.

 He is known for playing jazz trumpet and shofar in klezmer, gospel and jazz groups, including performances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and the House of Blues. His Jewish musical projects have included the vocal quartet ‘Beignet Yisrael’ and the smooth jazz trio ‘Rabbi, Russian and Blonde.’ He even performed a Duke Ellington piece at Congregation Beth Shalom's Interfaith service for Thanksgiving.

As a Seminary student, he won the Henry Fisher prize in homiletics, the Solomon and Rose S. Lasdon prize for creativity in translating Guys and Dolls into Hebrew, and first prize in the UJA/Morris Kaplun university essay contest. Rabbi Bockman has studied physics, linguistics, music and literature as an undergraduate at the University of California at San Diego. In addition to his Master of Arts in Jewish Studies and rabbinic ordination, he has completed course work towards his PhD in Jewish Philosophy, focusing on the post-modern French Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas. He has taught Jewish History at the University of New Orleans, and developed adult courses on Jewish philosophy and the musicals of Stephen Sondheim, oppression, and the nexus between 20th century math and Judaism.

Rabbi Bockman is proud to be married to Vicki Hyman, a newspaper reporter who grew up in Monsey, NY. Their delightful son, Theo, contributes to services with his humor and love of Judaism. They love living in Bergen County and facing the challenges of ready access to kosher food and abundant Jewish and Israeli culture.