It all started when…
I learned the value of hard work, a value which will continue to serve me in the Legislature. I’ve waited tables, worked in retail, and programmed computers. My passion for justice led me to become a civil rights attorney representing victims of race, gender, and handicap discrimination, as well as working people, tenants, and labor unions. I later shifted to mainly criminal defense, often defending those facing the death penalty.
After some 25 years of law practice, inspired by Jewish teachings on compassion and seeing the unique light in every person, I spent eight years in rabbinic school, simultaneously completing the coursework towards a PhD in Religion. Upon ordination, I applied for only one position: rabbi in Bozeman, where I would serve the community for the next decade, and now as Rabbi Emeritus. I’ve had the privilege of being there for people at baby namings, marriages, illnesses, and deaths, developing a deep sense of the values we all share as humans.
Interfaith work is a big part of my life. The skills I learned doing that work involve building on commonalities among diverse people, and that is a transferable skill when working in the legislature. I will continue to be a voice for preserving our precious planet, economic justice, loving our neighbor and the stranger, values which most people share, and we must build on that.
Beth and I love Bozeman. I have been a hospital and hospice chaplain, and have volunteered with Family Promise, the Fork & Spoon Café, the Food Bank, and Eagle Mount. I have been a supporter of many local conservation, justice, and music and arts organizations. I’m an avid cyclist, skier, kayaker, hiker, and dog owner. Serving as a legislator in Montana’s citizen legislature has allowed me to continue my commitment to a life of service, working for the community we love.
“I believe that people are really good at heart. . I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.”