Meet
Our Rabbi
Now in his 26th year in Fort
Myers. Rabbi Bruce Diamond holds his ordination from
Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion in
Cincinnati, which also conferred upon him his Doctor of
Divinities Degree. Rabbi Diamond has also been included
in Hebrew Union's prestigious President's Circle.
A native of Brooklyn, New
York, our rabbi received his diploma from its
world-famous Yeshivah of Flatbush and his undergraduate
degree from Bard College in the Hudson Valley. He also
pursued advanced studies in Talmud and Bible at the
Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Rabbi Diamond has taught
as an adjunct professor at Willamette University,
Southwestern Missouri State University, and and in local
institutions of higher learning, focusing on Social
Ethics and Civic Engagement.
Before coming to us, he served
congregations in Missouri, Oregon and New Hampshire. He
served our country as a chaplain in the United States Air
Force Reserve. A nationally-recognized human rights
advocate, you can read more about him in Randy Shilts'
book, Conduct Unbecoming.
Rabbi Diamond's life-long
passion is the incubation of new congregations. Besides
founding C.F.S., he was the first full-time rabbi of
Congregation Kol Am in St. Louis, the founding rabbi
of the Etz Hayim Synagogue in Derry New Hampshire,
reinvigorated the Bethlehem Hebrew Congregation in
Bethlehem in northern New Hampshire, and served as the
first rabbi-in-residence in Salem Oregon. His student
pulpits were in Union City, Tennessee and Guatemala City.
He created our synagogue as an expression of the real
needs of 21st Century smaller Jewish communities.
Rabbi Diamond's field of
academic concentration is on hidden meanings in ancient
and classical Jewish sources. He pioneered research into
covert communications techniques in the Bible ('Bible
codes") and brings that passion to our very popular
Shabbat morning Torah Study classes. He is a dynamic
public speaker and gifted teacher.
Our rabbi is the recipient of
the Jewish National Fund's Distinguished Leadership
Award, served as president of the St Louis Rabbinical
Association, Chair of the Central Conference of American
Rabbis' Midwest Social Action Committee, on the national
board of the Nuclear Weapon Freeze Campaign, the National
Clergy AIDS Network, Operation Weather Survival, the
American-Israeli Civil Liberties Union, and on the
Citizens' Advisory Board for Gannett's News-Press.
With our
warm and loving Rebbitzen Melinda at his
side, our distinguished rabbi has helped us create a new
and exciting model for a spiritually, intellectually and
morally enriched synagogue!
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