Rabbi Heyn Will Bring a Rich and Varied Background When He Comes to Colorado for High Holiday Weekend

Rabbi Tom Heyn, age 43, was ordained in 1999 from the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio. He and his family chose to stay in Cincinnati where he now serves as rabbi and chaplain in a long-term care facility and rehabilitation hospital. In these positions he is responsible for pastoral care, enrichment programming, and Shabbat morning services. His services are also usually enhanced by his love of music.

Rabbi Heyn (pronounced “Hine”) is an active member of Cincinnati’s Jewish community. His various activities and sedra commentaries appear regularly in the local Jewish paper. In 2003, he received a prestigious award from the Jewish Federation for his community service. He also serves as Secretary-Treasurer for the Greater Cincinnati Board of Rabbis. He is currently a member of Cincinnati's humanistic congregation, Beth Adam.

Rabbi Heyn grew up in Baltimore. After two years at Drew University in New Jersey, he held a number of positions in the financial services/insurance industry while pursuing studies of diverse traditions that put him in contact with teachers ranging from the Lubavitcher Rebbe to the Dalai Lama. For the first ten years, he practiced Eastern spiritual disciplines, such as yoga and meditation, under the instruction of a guru. For the next ten years, he was immersed in the study and practice of Judaism, benefiting from his association with dozens of respected rabbis, teachers, and scholars. He completed in 1994 his undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin, with a B.A. in History and Hebrew Studies.

Rabbi Heyn has taught in a number of religious schools and received several awards and grants for creativity and excellence in teaching. He served several pulpits as a student rabbi and, later, as an interim and High Holiday rabbi. He also served on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati, the College of Mount St. Joseph, and Yavneh Day School. One of his most fun assignments was coordinating and co-hosting a radio talk show called “Three Guys and a Torah.”

In his spare time, Rabbi Heyn enjoys various styles of art and music. He loves reading, hiking, and just being out in nature. His wife, Barbara, works as an international Organization Development consultant. They have three boys, ages 8, 6, and 4, and a Golden Retriever named ‘Baila,’ who frequently accompanies Rabbi Heyn as a certified therapy dog.

Shalom to my new friends at Congregation Beth Ami,

I can barely put into words how excited I am to be joining you for the High Holidays, so allow me to begin my letter by telling you why I’m so excited.

I love Denver and Boulder. I was in Colorado years ago as a child, on a family trip and later at a summer camp near Granby. Your state’s natural beauty made such an impression on me at the time that I felt compelled to come back again some day. Now with children of my own, just old enough to make the trip worthwhile, I came to Denver earlier this summer and brought my two oldest boys, Kalman (8) and Michael (6), to spend a week. Since my wife, Barbara, is not really into camping, she didn’t mind staying home with our youngest son, Bennett (4).

We stayed for a few days with a dear friend and colleague, Rabbi Eliot Baskin, and his family, and visited a classmate from the Hebrew Union College, Rabbi Jamie Korngold. My boys and I had a wonderful time, enjoyed the Boulder Jewish Festival, and spent three spectacular days camping and hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. But perhaps the most fortuitous event was finding out about Congregation Beth Ami. Rabbi Baskin suggested I call Barry Levene, and it worked out that I was able to meet him and several other members before the end of my visit.

I think I will always remember that meeting and how beautifully things fell into place. We were all so excited about the prospects of our working together, that someone joked, “Maybe there is a God after all.” I laugh when I think about that and the irony of such a statement.

This brings me to the real reason for my excitement. If you had a chance to read the article describing my background, you’d know that I had been on a somewhat long and circuitous path in search of wisdom, culminating in my work as a Reform rabbi and chaplain. Then, over the course of the past year, I came to discover that I am -- and have been for quite some time -- a Humanistic Jew!

So I joined the Humanistic congregation in Cincinnati, Rabbi Barr’s Congregation Beth Adam, and the more I read and learned about Humanistic Judaism, the more I came to identify completely with its ideals and values. This, too, makes me laugh! What next? I imagine it must be something like what my gay friends experienced when they came to understand who they were in light of their sexual orientation. It’s like, “Oh, yeah. Finally it all makes sense.”

The problem is, I now have so much more to learn. Just when I thought I had learned and accomplished something as a Reform rabbi, it feels like I have to start all over again at the age of 43. Oy vey! Ah, but the good thing is, all that I’ve learned can now be put to use in the very important work that lies ahead: the advancement of Humanistic ideals and values, and the growth and success of Congregation Beth Ami.

Yes, I have much to learn, but I am excited to be in the good company of so many dedicated and knowledgeable teachers and friends in the Humanistic community. As partners in this new venture together, I look forward to much learning, growth, success -- and laughter.

Tom Heyn