Rabbi Robbie Schaefer

Rabbi, Musician, Storyteller 

Man wearing glasses and a hat crouching in front of a blue door next to a brick wall.

Programs

  • Lamplighters

    Weekly Zoom Chavurah.

    Wednesdays at 12pm ET

    We wrestle with everything from Torah to current events, while exploring the richness and challenges of being Jewish in a modern world. All are welcome.

    "Every soul is a candle. Our job is to kindle the flame" -The Rebbe Rashab

  • The Music and Lives of Joni Mitchell and leonard Cohen

    Both Sides Now

    A theatrical concert with a bright Jewish thread running through the center of it. Based on the music and lives of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen.

  • Van Gogh style painting of an olive tree against a swirling blue sky with green grass.

    Songs From the Wilderness

    Robbie's solo concert for Jewish settings, featuring original songs, musical midrash, stories about volcanoes and reckless donkeys, and the occasional Paul Simon psalm.

  • Poster for "A Holistic Jewish Homecoming" event at Elohee Retreat Center, Bald Mountain, GA, Rosh Chodesh Elul, August 22-24, 2025. Features a stylized door and Hebrew letter "Hey."

    Retreats

    Hey (ה) Retreat: August 22-24, 2025, Bald Mountain, GA.

    A retreat of return to begin the month of Elul. Led by Rabbi Robbie and Rabbi Shari Dollinger. Kabbalistic yoga, music, Torah, mindfulness.

Man wearing traditional Jewish clothing, including a kippah and tallit with blue and white stripes, and standing indoors.

Welcome to a liveable, breathable, creative Torah

(spoiler alert: it’s you)

“So, what’s your take on God?”

Her name was Joan and thirty years ago, she asked me that question like she wanted to know what was for lunch. My answer at the time? “Ummm . . . I don’t think I trust millions of people agreeing on something so important”.

I now realize I should have added four words to my reponse: “So I’m a Jew”.

I’m a singer-songwriter, theatre/film artist, and a rabbi. But before any of that, I’m a Jew. Decades after I’d left Hebrew school and my Bar Mitzvah in the rear-view, I returned to a Judaism I’d never known existed. What I discovered was a tradition that is alive, relevant and dynamic. A tradition in which we don’t just read Torah, we are Torah, living, creating, and wrestling with it in real time.

It is in this spirit that I offer you a doorway to a Judaism that is both ancient and new. A doorway to yourself. Welcome home.