Our Rabbi Marci Jacobs - Chevrei Tzedek Congregation

Rabbi Marci Jacobs

Rabbi Jacobs, a Baltimore native, is a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she received her M.A. in Talmud and Rabbinics. Since her ordination, Rabbi Jacobs has served communities in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. After returning home to put down roots closer to her family, she taught at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville and is currently the Middle School Jewish Life Chair at Krieger Schechter Day School. Rabbi Jacobs is passionate about helping people find meaningful connections with one another, develop their skills and abilities, and find their own unique way to engage with the Jewish community.

Throughout Rabbi Jacobs' career, she has been known as an insightful teacher and relationship builder. She is excited to be part of the dynamic Chevrei Tzedek community and to help build upon its strengths as a vibrant and inclusive Jewish community. “We are thrilled to have Rabbi Jacobs at Chevrei Tzedek,” said Amit Golding, former Chair of Chevrei Tzedek Congregation. “She is a talented and experienced rabbi who is passionate about our mission. She is a wonderful spiritual leader for our congregation.”

Weekly Message from Rabbi Jacobs

July 17, 2025

16 Jul, 25 |

I am the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. With one European refugee grandparent on each side of my family, I grew up with hints of “the old country” in my daily life. Yiddish peppering our household vernacular and paprikash in our regular menu rotation just seemed normal to me, not signs of any particular heritage or identity. As a young child, I thought everyone I knew had a family structure like mine: parents who were first generation Americans, grandparents with accented English, and the specter of a terrible past that we just didn’t talk about. Although I knew nothing of what

July 12, 2025 – A Closer Look

14 Jul, 25 |

I spent last weekend in Harrisburg with a close friend. A kind of random choice for a weekend away, I know. We chose Harrisburg in order to fulfill our 3 criteria for the weekend - seeing fireworks on Friday night for July 4; my friend being able to say Kaddish in a minyan at least once a day; and being in walking distance to both fireworks and shul to accommodate Shabbat. We also wanted to be away from home, but not too far away. So Harrisburg it was! We stayed downtown, easily walkable both to the island in the middle

July 3

3 Jul, 25 |

Interdependence This week, our annual hiatus on the first Shabbat of July overlaps with the national holiday of July 4, Independence Day. Independence, as many have discussed far more eloquently than I, is an American value well beyond the celebration of July 4. Stereotypically, Americans prize rugged individualism, the capacity to “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps” to achieve our goals. In order to be so self-reliant, you must have deep faith in yourself. And there’s something to be said for that. At the same time, our focus on the individual often leaves us cut off from others. “Bowling alone,”

June 19, 2025 – Anxious Times

19 Jun, 25 |

It’s been quite a roller coaster of a couple of weeks. Coming off the busy-ness and happy excitement of graduations, end of school celebrations, and the start of summer, we’re now in an anxious space of keeping our eyes on Israel and Iran. So many of us have friends and family in Israel who are running back and forth from shelters, multiple times a day. So many of us are skeptical of the Israeli government’s motivations, even if we acknowledge that a nuclear Iran would be a disaster. So many of us are concerned about the potential role our own

May 29, 2025

29 May, 25 |

During this part of the school year, I, along with my colleagues who teach Judaics, spend time with our classes exploring the themes and practices of Shavuot. A number of the popular resources we use - videos and such - refer to Shavuot as “the forgotten holiday,” or some variation thereof. While not entirely untrue, I feel like this gives Shavuot a bum rap. Calling it the forgotten holiday seems to give us permission to keep on forgetting it. As a younger person, I usually went to shul on Shavuot - my parents would go to say Yizkor on the second

May 8, 2025

8 May, 25 |

This week, we read perhaps the most quoted passage from the Torah: ואהבת לרעך כמוך - You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Leviticus 19:18) It’s not only referenced in connection with its place in Vayikra, it also shows up in other places, as a rule to live by. It’s the basis for the Golden Rule. It’s clearly underlying what Hillel famously says to the person who asks him to teach the entire Torah while standing on one foot: “What is hateful to you, do not do to another. That is the whole Torah; the rest is interpretation. Go and