About Rabbi Sarah Tasman
Rabbi Sarah Tasman
Rabbi Sarah Tasman is the founder of the Tasman Center for Jewish Creativity which offers community classes & gatherings, and private spiritual coaching, and life cycle officiation. Rabbi Sarah specializes in leading experiential spirituality and Jewish mindfulness classes, providing opportunities for personal and professional development, and incorporating expressive modalities including writing, yoga, art and ritual.
She is a faculty member at The Adas Israel Community Mikvah where she trains mikvah guides in ritual creation and recently co-led the Well Bodies Program in Embodied Judaism. She has taught Jewish mindfulness classes for Orot: Center for New Jewish Learning, Gratz: NEXT, Jewish Federations of North America Changemakers Fellowship, Rabbis Without Borders and many congregations and organizations.
She was ordained by the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in 2012. She also holds a master of Jewish Education and a certificate of non-profit management. Rabbi Sarah completed her 200 Hour Yoga & Meditation Teacher training at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in 2014 and earned a Life Coaching Certificate from The Life Coach Training Institute in 2020 . She is a Rabbis Without Borders Fellow and member of the Kenissa: Communities of Meaning network. Previously, Rabbi Sarah was the Interfaith Family/DC Director, serving the needs of interfaith couples and families throughout Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC and has worked at Hillels at The University of Maryland, Yale and MIT. She serves on the board of directors for Shalom Learning.
Past Team Members
Valerie Brown
Valerie Brown began working with Rabbi Sarah at The Tasman Center as an intern in 2018. At the time, she had a day job in design and marketing with a side interest in building Jewish community. Now, thanks to mentors like Rabbi Sarah, the Jewish community has become her full time gig. Valerie recently spent a year at Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, completing the Experiential Educators Program. She will continue her studies at Pardes as a member of the Day School Educator’s Program, and to complete her Masters in Jewish Education. As the Community Educator at the Tasman Center, Valerie hopes to build programming that aligns creativity and spiritual connectedness. She's also passionate about good podcasts, cat gifs, and perfecting her pizza dough recipe.
About the Center
The Tasman Center for Jewish Creativity is a center without walls that offers experiences and resources for those seeking meaningful, accessible, and personalized Jewish learning, spiritual coaching, and rabbinic support.
Live and on-demand workshops incorporate writing, visual art, mixed-media art, meditation, yoga, poetry, and rabbinic and modern texts with Jewish spiritual practice and creative expression.
What Is Jewish Creativity?
Hebrew College writes about the Jewish value of yetzira, creativity, as follows:
Judaism, at its best, is a creative, intellectual and spiritual encounter among the individual, the community and the received tradition. Hebrew College encourages and empowers learners to see themselves as both inheritors and innovators — active participants in the unfolding story of the Jewish people. We embrace music, literature and the visual and performing arts as sources of inspiration and as vital modes of Jewish discovery and expression.
"Jewish creativity" is also a mindset and worldview born out of place of abundance. We believe that the Jewish people has always having been a diverse group and that the diversity of Jewish practice, liturgy, observance, areas of interest and expression is Judaism at its best.
Each of us is endowed with a creative spark (chochmat halev) the ancient seat of wisdom and intuition. My hope is to help others ignite that spark, nurture and tend that flame in order to lead more integrated, meaningful, connected and vibrant lives.
Rabbi Sarah Tasman is truly a rabbi for our time. She brings new life and spirituality to traditional forms, such as life cycle events and prayer; she also brings creative thinking and energy to offer newer forms which Judaism can encompass, such as community gatherings, retreats, yoga and art as spiritual experience. Rabbi Sarah's warmth, joy and love of Judaism and life infuse all of her work. Be a part of anything she offers, and you will find yourself immersed in the best of what Judaism has to offer.
— RABBI ORA WEISS
Rabbi Sarah is an inspirational leader. Sarah´s wisdom and heart for all she led is impressive and was personally inspiring during my time at business school. Rabbi Sarah is fearless when it comes to new initiatives, whether it´s building a brand new community or organizing a yoga class, and she executes each of those projects impeccably. - Yulia Khvan, Yale School of Management Class of 2014
— YULIA KHVAN, YALE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT CLASS OF 2014
“Through yoga, meditation, and Jewish learning, Rabbi Sarah has taught me to connect with my breath, observe my body’s changes to the seasons, and set meaningful intentions. Rabbi Sarah approaches Judaism in a way that makes her courses accessible to all, using tenants of loving kindness, spiritual renewal, and creating community.”
Chat with Rabbi Sarah
Got questions about our classes, one-on-one support, or lifecycle officiation? Schedule a chat with Rabbi Sarah to talk it out.
