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Thank You For Helping Me Grow Up: A Confession By Rabbi Patrick

March 23, 2015 by Patrick Beaulier

matisyahu image history

Yesterday I had the honor of sitting on the bet din of Rabbi Mitch Cohen, one of the rabbis who provides conversion through our sister website Darshan Yeshiva. It’s a true blessing to sit on his bet din because Rabbi Mitch and I have become friends over the years. But it’s a double blessing because the synagogue whose mikvah we use is the same one I converted in so many years ago.

It got me thinking a lot about the PunkTorah community and how much we have grown. We started as a YouTube channel. Then we had this website. Then we had a few that failed to launch. Oh well…we tried. A bunch of ebooks. Podcasts. An online synagogue and now, our online school and online conversion to Judaism program.

This was made possible not by me, but by you.
I have said for a long time that I consider myself the Chief Helper Monkey, not the CEO. You’re the boss. It’s your job to tell me what you need, and it’s our collective responsibility to one another to make that happen, whether it’s through donating financially, through providing content, teaching a class or leading a service. It doesn’t always work out that way, unfortunately. But we all try our best and there are many victories along the way.

On a personal note, the greatest victory that has happened over the years is my own personal maturity.
To be honest, there are YouTube videos that I did many moons ago that just make me cringe. I look at who I was and think, “gee, what kind of poser is that??” I’ve read some of my oldest blog posts and seriously wondered what was going on in my mind.

DSC_5081You gave me a space to grow up.
And over time, we gave each other a space to mature. Now, we are giving others a space as well. Thank you for that.

I have many dreams for PunkTorah’s future. I hope that you do, too.

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Rabbi Patrick’s Tattoos on Patheos.com

November 13, 2014 by Patrick Beaulier

Photo on 11-12-14 at 10.07 PM

I’m thrilled to announce that I will be blogging on Patheos, an interfaith website with a stellar Jewish section.

Since my blog is titled, “The Tattooed Rabbi”, it would be appropriate that my first piece is on my experience as a rabbi with tattoos. There’s a lot I could have put in this piece, particularly on the negative consequences of being a Jew with tattoos, especially when navigating the Jewish communal world, but I figured I’d keep it positive on this first go-around.

I hope you’ll read my blog on Patheos!

Rabbi Patrick is the director of PunkTorah.

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, online conversion, patheos, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, tattoo jewish

Introducing “Rabbi Patrick Aleph” and Two NEW WEBSITES!

July 17, 2013 by Patrick Beaulier

DSC_5081

Well friends, after several years of study, I have received smicha and am now Rabbi Patrick.

Pretty cool, huh?

I know you probably have a lot of questions, but before I get to answering them, I just want to say “thank you” for going on this awesome journey with me. Over the past few years, we have grown a lot together. It wasn’t that long ago that PunkTorah was just a video blog about the weekly Torah portion (and perhaps some tattoo related rants). Because of the hard work and dedication of amazing volunteers like you (along with your generous financial support), we grew into a community that reaches hundreds of thousands of people every year. Had it not been for your time and your donations, we would not be where we are today — and by extension, I would not be where I am today. So again, thank you for making the PunkTorah community possible, and thank you for giving me a community to be proud to belong to.

There will be more questions than these, and I hope you will submit them on Facebook and in the comment section so that I can address them directly. But here are just a few of the questions I have received since my ordination on June 27th.

Now that you’re a rabbi, are you leaving PunkTorah?

Heck no! Why would I do that? Especially after I just buttered you up with that long I-love-you rant! No, I am still going to be Executive Director of the PunkTorah/OneShul community.

However, in addition to everything we have going on at PunkTorah/OneShul, I do have a new website that focuses purely on my rabbinical work, with all donations and fees for services going to PunkTorah.

Can you do my wedding/bnai mitzvah/conversion?

Yes, yes and sorta.

If you need someone to officiate at your wedding or other lifecycle, I am your guy. Just email me. Of course, OneShul’s resident Kohenet Ketzirah also leads lifecycle events, and you can reach her here.

If you want to do a distance learning conversion, check out this page.

 

OK, anything else?

Lastly, I am going to step back a bit from writing at PunkTorah and leading services at OneShul to focus on building the school, as well as getting ready for the High Holidays services, which I know will feature myself, Rivka, Addi and Ketzirah. We’d love it if you lead services, taught a class, or just joined us. Email me to volunteer.

I have more questions, but I am too shy to post them on the internetz.

No problem, just shoot me an email. I’m a little backlogged right now, so please give me about 72 hours to get back with you.

Sincerely,

Patrick

PS: Yes, that was Patrick, not “Rabbi” Patrick. We’re friends…no need for titles.

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi aleph, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick, rabbi patrick aleph, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, who is your rabbi

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