Rabbi Rafi Ellenson

Phone: 408-358-1751 x3
Email: rabbirafi@shirhadash.org

About

Rabbi Rafi Ellenson (he/his/him) was ordained in 2025 by the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College, a non-denominational and pluralistic seminary in Newton, MA, where he also received a Master of Arts in Jewish Studies. He is a graduate of the Individualized Bachelor of Arts program at Goddard College in Plainfield, VT. Rabbi Rafi also holds a certificate in facilitation from Resetting the Table.

While in rabbinical school, Rabbi Rafi worked as the rabbinic intern at the Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership, the Bronfman Fellowships, and Shir Tikvah in Minneapolis, MN. In addition, he worked as the Associate Director of the Dignity Project - an interfaith youth group - and as Director of Hebrew Learning at URJ Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute (OSRUI).

An experienced prayer leader and musician, Rabbi Rafi has been a part of the prayer leadership team for communities such as Nava Tehila in Jerusalem, Beit Tefilah Israeli in Tel Aviv, Temple Beth Zion in Brookline, MA, and a songleader in various Reform movement contexts. In addition, Rabbi Rafi - alongside his roommates - founded a community while in Boston that regularly hosted over fifty people for Kabbalat Shabbat services and a potluck dinner in his home informally called The Goat Cheese Minyan.

Rabbi Rafi has written, taught, and led curricular implementation for a variety of educational settings including non-profits, summer camps, and supplementary school settings. He has designed original curricula teaching dialogue skills, Jewish text study skills, and Hebrew literacy for all levels.

An alumnus of the Dorot Fellowship in Israel, Rabbi Rafi spent three years living in Jerusalem as an adult - and more as a child - where he worked in the NGO sector at the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants and 0202: Points of View from Jerusalem.

Rabbi Rafi is a published poet and literary translator. His work can be found in Verklempt!, among others, and is the translator of the little book of e by E. Ethelbert Miller (City Point Press, 2024) - a bilingual collection of haiku.