Rabbi Morley Feinstein is Senior Rabbi of University Synagogue, having served previously as Rabbi of Temple Beth-El in South Bend, Indiana. Born in Chicago, Rabbi Feinstein grew up in Beverly Hills, graduating from Beverly Hills High School. He graduated from U.C. Berkeley, Phi Beta Kappa.
Following his ordination at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, he served Temple Beth-El in San Antonio, Texas. He is married to Dr. Margarete Myers Feinstein, who has been a professor at Susquehanna University, Indiana University-South Bend, and Loyola Marymount University. Rabbi Feinstein has four children, a USC grad at Yale Medical School, a senior at UC Davis, and twin five-year-old daughters.
Honored with “Rabbi Morley T. Feinstein Day” in Elkhart, Indiana, he received the keys to the cities of South Bend and Mishawaka, the “Exemplary Leadership Award” for Human Rights by their Mayors, and became an honorary citizen in perpetuity. Governor Frank O’Bannon bestowed on Rabbi Feinstein the “Sagamore of the Wabash,” Indiana’s highest citizen honor. In addition to his pastoral work, Rabbi Feinstein taught at several colleges and universities, including the University of Notre Dame and Indiana University-South Bend.
Rabbi Feinstein has published a book, The Jewish Law Review, as well as numerous articles in publications such as The Jewish Spectator, Journal of Reform Judaism, Midstream, the Wall Street Journal, and La Vanguardia of Spain. His teaching and writings cover a wide range of topics, from Biblical commentary to Israel, and medical ethics to Jewish music.
He is a featured contributor to Gates of Prayer For Shabbat and Weekdays, Three Times Chai: 54 Rabbis Tell Their Favorite Stories, Teaching about God and Spirituality, and Thinking in the Shadow of Hell.
Rabbi Feinstein was honored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles with its Rabbinic Award and was elected Treasurer of the Southern California Board of Rabbis. Rabbi Feinstein was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
Rabbi Feinstein is fluent in Hebrew, plays the guitar and has created “The Jewish Values Game.” He was a National Public Radio Commentator for affiliate WVPE and has been on Talk of the Nation.
Since returning to Los Angeles, Rabbi Feinstein has served on the Ethics Committee of the California Science Center, the Advisory Board of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights at Claremont McKenna College, and was honored by the Cure Familial Dysautonomia Foundation for his support of Jewish genetics research.
