Baht Yameem Weiss
Rabbi

Rabbi Baht Yameem Weiss has been a part of the Temple Beth Ami clergy team since 2010. Born and raised in New York City, Rabbi Weiss graduated from the High School for Performing Arts (the “Fame” School) in Manhattan where she majored in the Dramatic Arts. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and completed a Women’s Studies Program at Brandeis University. She received a Master’s degree in Hebrew Literature from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in New York in 2005. She completed rabbinic internships at the Bronfman Center for Jewish Life (Hillel) of New York University, Temple Sinai of Toronto Canada, Bellevue Hospital, Makor/Steinhardt, and Kent State Hillel. In 2006, Rabbi Weiss received her Rabbinical Ordination at HUC-JIR in New York. Rabbi Weiss served for four years as Assistant/Associate Rabbi at Temple Shalom in Naples, Florida. While in Florida, she was a “PEER” fellow in the STAR (Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal) Executive Leadership Program, 2008-09.

Rabbi Weiss is a Past President of the Washington Board of Rabbis. She participated in AIPAC’s Leffell Fellowship Program in 2015 as one of three Rabbis-in-Residence representing three denominations along the Judaic continuum. She accompanied a delegation of local reform, conservative, and orthodox rabbinical students to Israel on an educational mission in a teaching and mentorship capacity.

Rabbi Weiss enjoys working with all facets of temple life, teaching all ages, leading life cycle events, and helping build community. She is certified as a PREPARE AND ENRICH counselor for pre-marital counseling. She is a Schindler Fellow for Interfaith Certification, a program focusing on creating a welcoming and inclusive synagogue community for interfaith couples and families. She is involved in social advocacy work in the Greater Washington Community, including the Temple’s Community of Justice and Action in Montgomery’s Don’t Stand Idly By Campaign. Rabbi Weiss is involved with Machane TBA and enjoys teaching our temple’s youth, leading the Introduction to Judaism program, contributing to “Live and Learn” sessions, and organizing the temple’s Adult B’nai Mitzvah Classes. Rabbi Weiss is also on faculty with other local clergy for the Melton Program held locally at neighboring synagogues and at TBA.  She is also a graduate of the CORE Program of Leadership Montgomery and on the Steering Committee for the Rabbi Imam Summit.

Past community and social action involvement include serving as a Board Member for Planned Parenthood and the Coalition for Religious Progressive Voices.

Rabbi Weiss feels blessed to be part of such an innovative and vibrant Jewish community. She lives nearby in North Potomac with her husband, Todd Cohen, a Washington native, and their sons, Ari and Ethan.