Rabbi Emeritus - Rabbi Lee Bycel
Rabbi Bycel began his tenure at Congregation Beth Shalom in 2012. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Jewish Studies and Social Justice at the University of San Francisco. In 2014 he was appointed by President Obama to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council.
He has brought to CBS many years of experience including fifteen years as the Dean of the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, where he was the Senior Academic and Administrative Officer of the campus and director of the rabbinic school. He was Assistant Professor of Leadership and Applied Theology. He has also served as the Smither Visiting Professor of World Religions at the Claremont School of Theology. Throughout his rabbinic career, he has also served as a congregational rabbi, director of the Redford Center and President of the Brandeis-Bardin Institute.
Rabbi Bycel has been a leader in humanitarian and social justice issues as well as in educational, cultural, and interfaith and leadership programs. He has made several trips to Eastern Chad and Darfur in his work on behalf of the Darfuri refugees. He has been a senior moderator of leadership seminars at the Aspen Institute for over 15 years. Since his first trip to Israel in 1968, he has visited many times. He served as President of the County of Los Angeles Commission on Human Relations. He has a number of publications to his credit as well as being the recipient of many awards including the National Conference of Community and Justice (NCCJ) Humanitarian Award.
Rabbi Bycel's Sermons
Rabbi Bycel's Articles
- "Yom HaShoah and the importance of welcoming the stranger" The Jewish News, April 7, 2021
- "There is no moral dilemna: Let the asylum-seekers stay! " The Jewish News, April 5, 2018
- "Inscribing Oneself in the Book of Life" Napa Valley Register, September 29, 2016
- "Responding to the great moral challenge of our time. A first-hand report on the Syrian refugee crisis" The Jewish Week, July 18, 2016
- "Words can create, words can destroy: A time to move to real discourse" Jewish Journal, July 8, 2016
- The Legacy of Yitzhak Rabin
- Compelling Voices: The Teenagers of the Roaring Fork Valley
- Welcoming in the New Year - 5776 - Message from Rabbi Bycel
- MLK Monday Remarks by Rabbi Bycel
- Rabbi Bycel's New Year's Message in the Napa Valley Register