Rabbi Samuel Rheins
We are very fortunate to share Rabbi Sam Rheins with Congregation Beth Israel in Houston, Texas. An Assistant Rabbi for Beth Israel, Rabbi Sam serves as the full-time Rabbi for us at Temple Sinai. He visits roughly every three weeks to conduct Shabbat services on Friday nights, Torah services on Saturday mornings, with Torah Study immediately following the Saturday morning service.
Rabbi Sam was ordained rabbi at HUC-JIR in Cincinnati on June 1, 2024. Shortly afterwards, Rabbi Sam moved to Houston to join Congregation Beth Israel as Assistant Rabbi and Temple Sinai as Rabbi.
Rabbi Sam grew up in Denver, where both of his parents are Reform rabbis. He grew up in the Reform movement, attended Reform Jewish summer camp, and graduated from University of Colorado, Boulder, with a major in history and a minor in Jewish Studies in 2017. After college, he spent a year in Israel at Pardes Institute for Jewish Education before entering rabbinical school at HUC-JIR in Jerusalem and Cincinnati.
Rabbi Sam explains, “I view myself as a rabbi who promotes Jewish unity and togetherness not only during hard times such as these, but all the time. As a rabbi, one of my goals is to strengthen Jewish community and connectedness based on our shared history, traditions, and values.”
Rabbi Sam enjoys being with people, preparing for his role as rabbi on the bimah, teaching Torah to all ages, engaging with children, and sharing his joy of Judaism.
You may contact Rabbi Sam through Congregation Beth Israel at: srheins@beth-israel.org
This profile was modified from Congregation Beth Israel’s website.