56 | DECEMBER 14 • 2023
OBITUARIES
OF BLESSED MEMORY
R
abbi Laurie Phillips,
55, a visionary spiri-
tual leader, innovative
educator and ambassador
for kindness, passed away
over Thanksgiving weekend
at her childhood home in
Southfield.
In 2017, Laurie commis-
sioned 10,000 red, oblong-
shaped pins with the words
“BE KIND” emblazoned in
white capital letters to enlist
thousands to join her as kind-
ness ambassadors. Adorning
lapels and backpacks around
New York City and beyond,
the buttons symbolize the
essence and power of Laurie’s
life. She turned an ever-
expanding circle of humans
into deeply loved friends,
making all of those she
touched better versions of
themselves.
The middle child of Judy
and Dennis Phillips, a lawyer
and professor of dentistry,
respectively, Laurie grew up
in a flourishing Jewish envi-
ronment, attending Hillel
Day School and Southfield-
Lathrup Senior High School,
actively participating at Adat
Shalom Synagogue and serv-
ing as president of her local
B’nai B’rith Girls chapter.
Influenced by her brother
Michael, she majored in spe-
cial education at Michigan
State University and later
earned a master’s degree
in leadership, curriculum
and supervision from the
College of Notre Dame of
Maryland, while teaching
deaf and hearing-impaired
kindergarten students in
Baltimore and moonlighting
as a religious school teacher
at Temple Emanuel in nearby
Reisterstown. She
went on to teach at
the Jewish Primary
Day School (now
Milton Gottesman
Jewish Day School)
in Washington,
D.C., where she
became so beloved
that decades later
her former students
would approach
her to officiate
their weddings.
Her participation
in the mid-1990s
as a counselor at the Brandeis
Collegiate Institute, a West
Coast summer camp program
for young adults, set her on a
path of deepening her spiri-
tual life and reevaluating her
vocation as a primary school
teacher. She concluded that
becoming a rabbi would be
the optimal way to merge her
twin passions for Judaism and
education. Laurie enrolled
in rabbinical school, spend-
ing three years at Hebrew
Union College in Los Angeles
and two years in Jerusalem.
Ordained in 2003, she later
became director of education
at Wilshire Boulevard Temple
in Los Angeles and then at
Congregation Habonim in
Manhattan.
She was a dedicated inno-
vator in Jewish education
and influenced countless
children and their families.
At the Mandel Center for
Jewish Education at the JCC
Association, she co-created
“Lechu Lachem,” an immer-
sive program through which
camp directors could deep-
en their relationship with
Judaism.
Collaborating with the
Manhattan JCC
and three nearby
synagogues, Laurie
helped create and
implement the
Jewish Journey
Project, a choice-
based supplemental
Jewish educational
program for ele-
mentary- through
middle school-aged
children. Laurie
was twice nomi-
nated for the pres-
tigious Covenant
Award, the highest honor in
the field of Jewish education.
Her vision and passion for
innovation led her, in 2014, to
found a New York City-based
synagogue without walls with
the mission of creating a rela-
tional model of Judaism. She
named it Beineinu, Hebrew
for “between us,” with the
purpose of infusing the spac-
es between people with light
and love, which was how she
herself experienced divinity.
Beineinu imparted Judaism
through intimate gatherings,
often in the living rooms of
its students. Ever sure of her-
self, she preached from her
heart, without notes, some-
times sharing some of her
rawest life experiences, such
as undergoing chemotherapy
and the benefits of wearing
good red lipstick. Her blunt
truth-telling could unleash
uproarious laughter as well
and many thought she should
moonlight in stand-up
comedy.
Deeply influenced by her
participation in the Institute
for Jewish Spirituality, Laurie
became a disciple and a
teacher of mindfulness and
believed strongly that a
regular meditation practice
involving silence and chant-
ing can transform, nourish
and heal. Laurie was active in
Kids4Peace, a vice president
of Matan, a board mem-
ber of Uprooted: A Jewish
Response to Fertility Journeys
and a trained birth doula.
Embracing feminist theology,
she was deeply committed
to empowering women to
reclaim mikveh through edu-
cation and crafting individual
experiences.
Israel was where Laurie
felt the most alive and where
her soul will dwell in eter-
nity. She became fluent in
Hebrew at age 12 while
spending three months at
Kibbutz Nachshonim where
her father was volunteering
as the community dentist.
She returned to Israel for
two years as a rabbinical
student, after which she vis-
ited regularly. At the Shalom
Hartman Institute, she was
named a senior rabbinic fel-
low. Her final journey in July
and August 2022, gave her
renewed energy and strength.
In addition to her father,
Dennis, she is survived by
her siblings, Beth Phillips and
Michael Phillips; her stepson,
Adam Cohen; her adopted
family, Moran and Murray
Lantner; their daughters,
Ma’ayan, Meitar and Alma;
her dog, Daisy; countless
friends and their children
who cherished her loving
soul, generous spirit, gifted
mind, infectious laughter,
beautiful smile and full heart.
The link to Beineinu web-
site: beineinu.com/communi-
ty-gatherings.
A Kindness Ambassador
Rabbi Laurie
Phillips