Rabbi Yossi Feintuch , Ph.D., became the first fulltime Rabbi of Congregation Beth Shalom in 1997, when the Congregation was still physically housed within the Hillel Jewish Student building. He has led the Congregation as we have grown and separated from the Hillel. Rabbi Feintuch has offered a variety of services to our small but diverse community, including “early” services, "brachah", "Shabbat li-ladim" services for young children, and Soul Healing. He has developed inter-faith communal relations with local churches, including inter-congregational continuing education opportunities.
In addition to his many Congregational responsibilities, Rabbi Feintuch is a Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO, teaching "Judaism" and "The Torah: a liberal view" (originally developed curricular course) to undergraduate and graduate students. He is a frequent contributor to the Op-Ed and Letters-to-the-Editor page of the two local daily newspapers, the Columbia Tribune and the Missourian.
Rabbi Feintuch’s education includes a Doctorate of Philosophy in United States History from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia awarded in 1985. Prior degrees include a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and History from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, a Master of Arts in History from New York University, New York, and a second Masters of Arts in Hebrew Letters from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati, Ohio. Rabbi Feintuch was ordained in 1994 by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati, Ohio. Rabbi Feintuch has maintained rabbinic posts since his ordination, including three years as leader of the United Congregation Mikve Israel-Emanuel, Curacao, a Sephardic-Portuguese congregation that is the oldest in the Western Hemisphere.
Dr. Feintuch’s publications include the following:
Y Feintuch. Who Eats First? Central Conference of American Rabbis Journal: a Reform Jewish Quarterly, In Press 2008
Y Feintuch. Er’s Heir: The Tamar story: why is it there?, Central Conference of American Rabbis Journal: a Reform Jewish Quarterly, Winter 2008
Y Feintuch. Martin Luther King Day, The American Rabbi, 2008/5768 (Spring Issue)
Y Feintuch. “To tell the Jewish story, The American Rabbi, 2006/5767,(High Holy Days issue)
Y Feintuch. “The Folly of Impetuous Speech: Four Biblical Incidents”, _The Jewish Bible Quarterly, /January-March 2006
Y Feintuch. “An invitation to Simhat Torah”, The American Rabbi, 2005/5766
Y Feintuch. “/Hag Ha-o-da-yah/”, The American Rabbi, 2004/5–5765
Y Feintuch. “Let us be more like Truman, The American Rabbi, 2004/5765, (High Holy days issue)
Y Feintuch. “Beauty in the Bible”, The Jewish Bible Quarterly, October – December 2003.
Y Feintuch. “God, Torah, Israel: The Jewish Model For Recreating Ourselves”,
Y Feintuch. “King Saul, King David, and US”, The American Rabbi, 5764, (High Holy Days issue)
Y Feintuch. “Mother’s Day? Big deal”, The American Rabbi, 2003/5763
Y Feintuch. “Do you have Jewish blood?”, The American Rabbi, 2003/5763
Y Feintuch. “Choose Life!”, The American Rabbi, 2002/5763, (High Holy Days issue)
Y Feintuch. "When You Lie Down and When You Rise", The American Rabbi, 2002/5762.
Y Feintuch. "The Real Meaning of Hanukkah", The American Rabbi, 2001/5762
Y Feintuch. "Your First Birthday is Today" in Living Words III: Best High Holiday Sermons of 5761, Published by Sh'ma, 2001
Y Feintuch. "Which Menorah Shall We Light?", The American Rabbi, Winter 2000/5761
Y Feintuch. "Of Being Jewish in the Devil's Ice Box", The American Rabbi, Spring/Summer, 2000/5760
Y Feintuch. "Jonah: A Transitional Prophet", The Jewish Bible Quarterly, July-September, 1999
Y Feintuch. "We and King David's Horses", The American Rabbi, Winter,1996
Y Feintuch. "Send Anybody But Me; Divine Call and Human Response in the Hebrew
Bible" (unpublished Rabbinic thesis; Referee: Herbert. C. Brichto), 1994
Y Feintuch. "The Jewish community in Eretz-Israel during World War I," (A book review), American Jewish Archives, Vol. XLV, No. 1, pp.
97-99, Summer, 1993
Y Feintuch. "President Wilson and the Question of Palestine, 1917-1920,"
Zmanim, Vol. 9, No. 36, pp. 92-99, Winter, 1990
Y Feintuch. “U.S. Policy on Jerusalem”, Published by the Council on Foreign Relations, Greenwood Press, 1987. xii, 178 pp.
