Rabbi Emeritus Lewis Mintz
Rabbi Lewis Mintz served as spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Elohim for 40 years. He became Rabbi Emeritus on July 1, 2017.
Rabbi Mintz nurtured the growth of our community from a small congregation of 85 families sharing a space in Maynard, to a substantial community of over 300 families, in a building enlarged twice to accommodate the community's growth. He was active and well known, not only as a spiritual leader, but as an extremely knowledgeable and talented teacher, and was a resource within the larger Acton community on any matter of Jewish interest.
He studied at Brandeis University, concentrating in Near Eastern and Judaic studies and received a Masters Degree in counseling from Antioch University. When he started leading services and teaching students at Congregation Beth Elohim, he was also chaplain to Jewish students at Wellesley College and at Bentley College. In 1980, he began his studies in rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary and was ordained rabbi by the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York. During the 1990’s Rabbi Mintz served for eight years on the Academy's Board of Trustees and, at its Ordination Ceremony in 2003, he was honored with the Academy's Alumnus of the Year Award.
In May 2017, a gala celebration honored Lewis and Naomi Katz Mintz for over four decades of dedicated service to our Congregation and community.
Celebrating 40 years
During the early months of 2017 we collected tributes and photos from congregants, past congregants, and beyond — to celebrate Lewis Mintz' 40 years of spiritual leadership.
It took many months to complete the 140 page book. We were thrilled to be able to include photos from Rabbi Mintz’ early days at CBE, 40 years of officiating at life cycle events, leading Israel trips, as well as his gala farewell in May 2017, his Brotherhood breakfast talk, and his final Shabbat service, and Cantor Sarra’s wedding. We culled through thousands of Purim shpiel photos to bring you the best of Rabbi Mintz in costume.
Finally, Rabbi Mintz and Naomi received two copies of the hardbound book on November 21, 2017 — one for themselves and one for son and daughter-in-law David and Deborah. Shortly thereafter two more copies were installed at CBE — one in the inner office and one in the library.
If you would like to purchase a 12”x12” coffee table book identical to the ones received by Rabbi Mintz and installed at CBE, it can be ordered online. Please note that the price for a single copy is $135.79. This is the price charged by the manufacturer; there is no padding by CBE.
You may download a pdf of the book here.
The Tribute Book Committee