Rabbi Max Chaiken
Rabbi Max Chaiken was ordained in 2018 at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. They spent the first several years of their rabbinic career in congregational life in West Hollywood, CA, and later in Andover, MA, before moving back to their hometown of Teaneck, NJ.
Rabbi Max currently serves as the Associate Rabbi for Music at Riverdale Temple in The Bronx, NY, where they bring musicianship and joy to services each Shabbat. An avid guitar player, singer, composer, and poet, Rabbi Max facilitates musical, participatory worship, teaches learners of all ages, and offers a creative and pastoral presence.
They are also currently concluding their time as a Chaplain Resident at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ, and recently began as the Jewish Chaplain at Atlantic Health Morristown Medical Center.
If you'd like to know more about their work, bring them to your community for a visit, or engage them for a lifecycle event, please be in touch!
Selected Torah Commentaries
These are a few of the Divrei Torah that Rabbi Max wrote as the featured commentary for ReformJuidaism.org on book of Deuteronomy in 2020.
Selected Poetry
In addition to writing music, Max often poems or short readings that interpret themes and motifs from Jewish tradition and prayer.
I do not know (in memory of George Floyd z'l)
Mah Rabu (created with Adult B'nai Mitzvah students)
May the One (adapted from Chaim Stern June 2020)
Holocaust Yizkor Memorial Reading - An Alphabet of Woe
Music & Teaching