The Sci-Fi Rabbi - Exploring Jewish Wisdom
and Speculative Fiction
In 1977, I was in the back seat of my parents’ car at the drive-in. I was too young to understand the plot. Even so, I remember the sense of awe as Star Wars unfolded before me. I felt that the universe was vast and strange and filled with more wonder than I could possibly imagine.
I’ve been collecting stories like that one ever since.
I treasure many aspects of my Jewish heritage. I love the wild improbability of a people who keep reading the same texts for thousands of years and finding something new in them each time. Most of all, I love our stories.
Jewish stories live in ancient texts and the teachers who hand them down. Others can be found in modern books and films and graphic novels. My favorite stories are the ones where Judaism and speculative fiction overlap. Science fiction, fantasy, horror, magical realism – wherever a writer is imagining what could be, Judaism has something to say. Engaging with speculative fiction as a Jewish reader is coming home.
I’m Rabbi Josh Breindel. I share what I love so you can love it too – and what I love is Jewish wisdom, speculative fiction, and the places where they come into conversation.
Jewish tradition has always been a speculative tradition. Our imagination lifts us to the stars.
— Rabbi Josh Breindel, “Beyond the Stars” (Lehrhaus, 2/25/24)
Photo credit: Jacob Stevens
What I’m doing
I serve as rabbi at Congregation Beth El in Sudbury, Massachusetts, where I teach, lead, and learn alongside a community I love. I teach a monthly series at Lehrhaus in Somerville on Jewish speculative fiction, exploring the conversation between classical midrash (rabbinic commentary) and the science fiction, fantasy, and horror we read today. And I co-host an open Jewish science fiction and fantasy book club with my wife, Stephanie. And I write – sermons, essays, and the occasional review of something I’ve just read.
I was ordained at Hebrew College in Newton, Massachusetts. I’ve been teaching at the intersection of Judaism and speculative fiction for more than twenty-five years, with classes and conversations across New England and online. Before the pulpit, my love of stories took me through theater, writing, and a lifelong reading habit that has never slowed down.
On WERS’s Chagigah, I’m the Rabbi on the Radio. Everywhere else, I’m The Sci-Fi Rabbi.
Photo credit: Karen Blumenfeld
Let’s connect
You’re welcome here.
All people have a place on this site, no matter your gender identity, sexual orientation, race or religious background.
If you love Jewish texts and speculative fiction – or are curious to learn more about them – you’re in the right place. All are welcome here: learners of every kind, Jews of all backgrounds, partners and parents of Jews, and fellow travelers from other traditions. The people who show up for a good story are exactly the people I want to learn with.
Photo credit: Footer – Haiming Xiao (Unsplash).