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