Rabbi Ari Sunshine joined Congregation Shearith Israel in July 2017 as Senior Rabbi, bringing with him his passion for community building, outreach and engagement, for teaching Torah in many different settings, and his love for Israel. Previously, Rabbi Sunshine served as Rabbi of B’nai Shalom of Olney, Maryland from November 2006 to June 2017. From 2013 to 2016 he participated in the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Rabbinic Leadership Initiative and graduated as a Senior Rabbinic Fellow. During his tenure in Maryland, Rabbi Sunshine also served as the President of the Greater Olney Interfaith Ministerium and as the President of the Washington-Baltimore Region of the Rabbinical Assembly. From 2021-2023 Rabbi Sunshine served as the President of the Rabbinic Association of Greater Dallas and on the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas, and he currently serves on the advisory board of the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas.
After graduating Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. from Brandeis University, Rabbi Sunshine served three years at Temple Israel in Sharon, Massachusetts as Youth Director, Ritual Director, and Senior USY Advisor. In 1997 he decided to attend the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. While attending the Seminary, he also served as a Rabbinic Intern for Beth El Congregation in Baltimore, Maryland, and for The American University in Washington, D.C.
Rabbi Sunshine has extensive experience working at Camp Ramah in Ojai, California, and leading USY Israel Pilgrimage and USY on Wheels groups. He received his M.A. and rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in the spring of 2002. From July 2002 until November of 2006, Rabbi Sunshine served as the Associate Rabbi of Temple Israel in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Rabbi Sunshine and his wife, Jennifer, have two children, Jonah and Elana. He is a Star Wars, Marvel, and LEGO enthusiast, and a passionate Baltimore Orioles fan (Let’s go O’s!) who also roots for a host of other perennially underachieving Washington D.C. area college and professional sports teams.
P.S. - ask him about his trip to see the Washington Capitals clinch the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas in 2018!
After graduating Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. from Brandeis University, Rabbi Sunshine served three years at Temple Israel in Sharon, Massachusetts as Youth Director, Ritual Director, and Senior USY Advisor. In 1997 he decided to attend the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. While attending the Seminary, he also served as a Rabbinic Intern for Beth El Congregation in Baltimore, Maryland, and for The American University in Washington, D.C.
Rabbi Sunshine has extensive experience working at Camp Ramah in Ojai, California, and leading USY Israel Pilgrimage and USY on Wheels groups. He received his M.A. and rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in the spring of 2002. From July 2002 until November of 2006, Rabbi Sunshine served as the Associate Rabbi of Temple Israel in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Rabbi Sunshine and his wife, Jennifer, have two children, Jonah and Elana. He is a Star Wars, Marvel, and LEGO enthusiast, and a passionate Baltimore Orioles fan (Let’s go O’s!) who also roots for a host of other perennially underachieving Washington D.C. area college and professional sports teams.
P.S. - ask him about his trip to see the Washington Capitals clinch the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas in 2018!