Rabbi Denise Eger, editor of Mishkan Ga’avah, collection of LGBTQ prayers, poems, liturgy, and rituals, visits Seekers of Meaning Podcast

Denise L. Eger was raised in Memphis, TN.  She graduated with honors from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor’s Degree in Religion in 1982.  She received her Master’s Degree from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in 1985 and was ordained as Rabbi in 1988 at the New York campus of HUC. Rabbi Eger is a Sr. Rabbinic Fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute and received her Doctor of Divinity from Hebrew Union College in 2013.

Rabbi Eger has served pulpits in Canada, New York and Los Angeles.  Following ordination, she served Congregation Beth Chayim Chadashim for four years as its first full-time rabbi. She is the founding rabbi of Congregation Kol Ami, West Hollywood’s Reform Synagogue.

Rabbi Eger is the editor of the groundbreaking book: Mishkan Ga’avah: Where Pride Dwells: A Celebration of LGBTQ Jewish Life and Ritual. She is the co-editor of Gender & Religious Leadership: Women Rabbis, Pastors and Ministers by Lexington Press

Rabbi Eger believes that activism is an important part of her rabbinate.  She has worked extensively with people with AIDS. She served as co-chair of the Community Advisory Board of the Shanti Foundation and is a past Chair of the Spiritual Advisory Committee of AIDS Project Los Angeles.  She is past Co-Chair of the Institutional Review Board for Search Alliance, an AIDS drug research organization.  Rabbi Eger continues to facilitate Kol Ami’s Jewish HIV+ support group monthly.

In June 2008 Rabbi Eger had the honor of officiating at the first legal wedding for a lesbian couple in California. Rabbi Eger is married to Rabbi Eleanor Steinman and has an adult son living in Texas.