Benjamin Scolnic

Rabbi Benjamin Edidin Scolnic, born October 28, 1953, has been the spiritual leader at Temple Beth Sholom in Hamden, CT since 1983.

On November 22, 2008, Temple Beth Sholom and Rabbi Scolnic celebrated his 25th Anniversary of leadership at the synangogue.[1]

Early Years

Rabbi Scolnic was ordained at the Seminary in 1979 while winning awards for Bible and Dedication to the Seminary (after serving as President of the Rabbinical School Student Council). He served as Assistant Rabbi and Acting Rabbi at Temple Emanu-el of Englewood, N. J. for three years, until he left for a year in Israel on a fellowship sponsored by the President of Israel. He received his Ph.D. from the Seminary, the first to receive a Ph.D. in Bible from the Seminary in the history of its Graduate School. Rabbi Scolnic was the host for a series of Eternal Light radio shows. He is the Co-editor of a study guide on the Constitution and Jewish Law.

Published Works

He is the author of Theme and Context in Biblical Lists (1995), Papponymy and Chronology (1999), Are You Talking to Me? (2001), Shoes for the Road (2003), Alcimus, Enemy of the Maccabees (2004), If the Egyptians Died in the Red Sea, Where are Pharaoh’s Chariots? Exploring the Historical Dimension of the Bible (2005), Unfinished Business (2006), Conservative Judaism and the Faces of God’s Words (2006), Thy Brother’s Blood: The Maccabees and the Morality of Kinship (2007) and Of Destinies and Dynasties: The Rise and Fall of the Maccabees (forthcoming) and over seventy articles and essays on the Bible, feminism, liturgy, Jewish education, the relationship between religion and the media, and the future of Conservative Judaism.

Family

Scolnis has a large family with his wife Dorene and four children; Joshua, Rachel, Danny, and Sarah. In recent years, he has become a grandfather as well with two grandsons; Alexander Rubin and Abraham Joseph.

North Sinai Archaeological Expedition

Scolnic is participating in the North Sinai archaeological expedition, which takes place once or twice a year, as a biblical consultant. On the expedition, Scolnic has been digging up a city in the Sinai Peninsula that no one knew existed.