Rabbi Sharon Stiefel received her rabbinic ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) in 1990. She is also a Licensed Graduate Social Worker with a Masters in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania. Rabbi Stiefel has been rabbi at Mayim Rabim, the only Reconstructionist congregation in the Twin Cities, since 2012. She is also the part-time Pastoral Care Rabbi at Shir Tikvah. Prior to that she served for over 10 years as the part-time rabbi and spiritual counselor of Sholom Hospice. Rabbi Stiefel spent 18 years of her rabbinate serving students on campus – 13 years as the Associate Director at the University of Minnesota Hillel and before that in similar positions at the University of Pennsylvania and Grinnell College. Rabbi Stiefel has also served as the Jewish Education Director at the St Paul Jewish Community Center and the interim Rabbi at Shir Tikvah Congregation. While with the St. Paul JCC, her course on spiritual autobiography was recognized with the national Jewish Community Centers Association Exemplary Award. In June 2015, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by the RRC in honor of her 25 years of service in the rabbinate.
Rabbi Stiefel views her position with Mayim Rabim as a unique opportunity to do what she loves best; building a community that is participatory, joyful and meaningful. She is enthusiastic about shepherding Mayim Rabim, a community whose values reflect her own, to an exciting next phase of growth in realizing its vision.