Rabbi Andrea Merow
Rabbi Merow is dedicated to creating a warm community imbued with holiness, knowledge, reflection, and joy. She is committed to meeting individuals where they are to enable them to progress on their Jewish journey. She has a talent for crafting and leading soulful prayer experiences, is devoted to social action efforts, and to using these more broadly to foster spiritual growth in congregants.
Rabbi Merow attended the Institute for Zionist Youth Leadership from Abroad in Jerusalem, then earned Bachelors of Arts degrees, with honors, from Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary List College of Jewish Studies in 1992. She was ordained and received a Master of Arts, with a concentration in Education, at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1997. At her ordination she received the Sidney Greenberg Prize in Homiletics. In 2004, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America honored her with the Simon Greenberg prize for Rabbinic Achievement.
Rabbi Merow was the Rabbi at Temple Sholom in Northeast Philadelphia from her ordination until 2004, when Temple Sholom merged into Beth Sholom and Rabbi Merow joined our rabbinic staff. At Beth Sholom, she is involved in all areas of rabbinic life and has been responsible for helping to create our award winning Shabbat Experience program.
Rabbi Merow serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Rabbis of Philadelphia, and has served on the boards of several local Jewish agencies including Camp Ramah, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, the Chancellor's Rabbinic Cabinet of the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Jewish Learning Venture. She served as the President of the Mid-Atlantic Region Rabbinical Assembly and on the International Executive Committee of the RA.
Rabbi Merow has a special interest in Social Activism. During her tenure at Temple Sholom and Beth Sholom, Rabbi Merow assisted many talented lay people in building the Mitzvah Food Pantry & Garden into a program that helps feed hundreds of families weekly.
Rabbi Merow loves to daven, teach, sing and do Israeli dancing. She is an avid traveler, especially to Israel, and loves to bike and walk her dog.
