Rabbi Edward M. Friedman

We are thrilled to have on our pulpit Rabbi Edward M. Friedman as our spiritual leader. Rabbi Friedman brings a great deal of energy and feeling to our services along with a powerful voice and knowledge of traditional cantorial melodies as well. Our rabbi has many years of experience in congregations both in New England and in other areas of the country. He is a scholar, well-versed in Jewish learning, a teacher who enjoys sharing his love of Judaism and its esoteric secrets with his students, and a speaker who can instruct, entertain, and move his audience.

He is available to help us through life's joyous occasions as well as its sad times. His door is open for counseling or schmoozing and he is accessible by cell-phone and e-mail when he is not at the synagogue.

Born in Bridgeport, CT, Rabbi Friedman grew up in the suburbs of Stratford and Fairfield on the Connecticut coast. He was active in synagogue youth activities (Leaders' Training Fellowship - LTF) and educational programs (JTS's Prozdor) in his teenage years, attending the old Camp Ramah in East Hampton, CT, for two summers, taking summer courses at the Jewish Theological Seminary's Teachers Institute for two other summers, and going to Israel for the summer following his high school graduation, right after the Six Day War.

He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a major in Religious Thought. He also studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for his junior year abroad. His rabbinical training was at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and included a second year in Israel at the Seminary's Israel Center during the Yom Kippur War and its aftermath. He has taken advantage of additional professional training over the years through courses at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Mercy Hospital in Springfield, and Hebrew College in Newton.

In 2001, Rabbi Friedman was recognized by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America for over 25 years of rabbinic service with an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. He currently is a member of the local Andover clergy association and of the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis.

In addition to his role at Beth Israel and his involvement in the local community, Rabbi Friedman continues to serve even now as a co-chair of the Interfaith Institute of the Greater Carolinas Association of Rabbis (where he was President while Rabbi of Synagogue Emanu-El in Charleston, S.C.) and is active in planning its annual summer retreat programs. Over the years, he has been very much involved in interfaith work and other community endeavors.

Rabbi Friedman and his wife Janice live in Goffstown, NH, with their 12-year-old Shih Tzu, Tia. They have a son, Aaron Levy, a musician living in Charleston, SC.