Rabbi Maurice Harris

Rabbi Maurice Harris joined the staff at TBI in August 2003.

Rabbi Maurice Harris shares rabbinic duties with our Senior Rabbi. In addition, he supervises the Talmud Torah and Shalhevet (Religious School) programs and coordinates Community Education classes and events. He teaches our 6th and 7th graders and works closely with our b'nai mitzvah students.

Rabbi Maurice grew up in St. Louis, but spent much of his childhood summers with his Moroccan-Jewish relatives in Israel. He has lived in San Francisco, Chicago, on the East coast, and on an Israeli kibbutz. He is married to Melissa Crabbe and they have two children, Clarice and Hunter.

Rabbi Maurice was ordained in 2003 at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia. His Jewish passions include studying and teaching Jewish texts, working for Israeli-Palestinian peace, and exploring the question of what makes for healthy, life-affirming religion. In addition, he loves writing, rooting for the St. Louis Cardinals, making films, and traveling.

Read the Rabbis' Monthly Messages to the Community...

Erev Yom Kippur 5770
September 27, 2009

The Shoah Still Makes us Ask: How Do We Recover from Trauma?

Good Yom Tov. Tonight I’d like to share some thoughts I’ve been having about questions that emerge from a pop culture phenomenon that has generated a lot of controversy, especially in the Jewish community. I’m talking about Quentin Tarantino’s summer hit movie, Inglorious Basterds. Before I go any further, I want to say that this movie, and my talk, both deal with the subject of the Holocaust. I know that, for some here tonight, the Shoah remains a tender or painful topic, and I hope to engage this topic without reopening anyone’s wounds. I ask your pardon in advance if I miss the mark in that effort....

Read Rabbi Maurice's full d'var

Erev Yom Kippur 5768
September 21, 2007

An Unexpected Role Model

Good Yontiff. Before I begin, I want to say thank you to my spouse, Melissa Crabbe, for having many conversations with me that helped inspire these remarks. Her influence on what I’m going to share tonight is significant, and I’m grateful for it.

There’s a member of the Jewish community who I’d like to talk about this evening – someone who has lived an extraordinary life. I haven’t told him beforehand that he would be the focus of my talk, so I don’t know how he might react...

Read Rabbi Maurice's full d'var