Meet Rabbi Geoff Basik

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Rabbi Emeritus Geoff Basik

Geoff Basik, became Rabbi Emeritus of Kol HaLev on January 1, 2021. As the founding rabbi of the Kol HaLev Synagogue Community, is a 2007 graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Geoff spent ten years at the Center for Jewish Education in Baltimore where he taught, organized community programs, and led trips to Poland and Israel. The rabbinate was a natural extension of his interest in religious thought and experience, the exploration of our interior lives, his delight in teaching, and his interpersonal skills. He is a bridge to Jewish wisdom, practices, and values in the context of modernity.

Rabbi Geoff is a warm and inclusive spiritual leader and partner for those who wish to explore Jewish resources for a life of inquiry, meaning, community, and ethical action in the world.

Rabbi Geoff was born and raised in Baltimore, leaving after high school to begin his own journey with an undergraduate degree in Comparative Religion that included Jewish Studies. He lived in Israel for two years, and then earned a Master’s degree in International Relations and Middle East Studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. Along the way, Rabbi Geoff has been involved with a number of extra-curricular pursuits, including the Alternatives to Violence Program in the prison system and The Mankind Project.

Rabbi Geoff’s personal life revolves around his wife of over 30 years (artist and art educator Donna Basik) and their two daughters, son-in-law, and now grandson, plus the family dog and the practices of meditation, yoga, baseball, and golf.

View Our Special Evening with Rabbi Geoff
Our evening to honor Rabbi Geoff's retirement was definitely a success! It was a lovely time of sharing for Rabbi Geoff and for the many members of our Kol HaLev family who were in attendance. The one-hour program included Rabbi Geoff blessing our congregation, a video which included photos and footage of special memories with Rabbi Geoff through the years (which KHL congregants provided and which Steven Silvern put together for us), and Cantor George singing 'V’asu Li Mikdash' (Lord, make me a sanctuary) an original composition he created to honor Rabbi's retirement. If you were unable to attend, you can still share the experience by clicking here to view the program.
We will miss our beloved Rabbi Geoff Basik, and we send with him our very best wishes for a healthy, happy, and blessed future! And all of the people said "Amein!"

Tue, April 13 2021
1 Iyyar 5781

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CANCELLATIONS DUE TO CORONA VIRUS

To best protect the members of our community Kol HaLev services and activities AT CHC have been canceled until further notice.

Candle lighting, Torah study, classes, and other gatherings will continue virtually online. Read the weekly bulletin or check on this Kol HaLev website for details on how to connect to these virtual gatherings and for announcements about when we will be meeting again in person.

Shabbat Music

Kol HaLev, with the guidance of Cantor George has been introducing new, exciting, stimulating, joyful music to our services. Much of this music is for Friday nights and is played by Kol HaLev Unplugged on the fourth Friday night of the month. Kol HaLev Unplugged has made recordings so that the community can learn the melodies more easily. This link takes you to the recordings and the lyrics for the songs. You can also check out our latest You Tube video of Kol HaLev Unplugged singing Cantor George's Shalom Rav! Come to Shabbat and enjoy guitar, drum, voices and song!

Black Lives Matter

Kol HaLev has joined over 400 Jewish synagogues and organizations that signed this declaration:
Jewish Organizations and Synagogues say: Black Lives Matter
We are Jewish organizations and synagogues from across the racial and political spectrum; from different streams of Judaism; whose members trace their lineage from countries around the world.
To read more, click here.

"Social Distance, But Not Disconnect"

While we are doing what we can to ensure our physical health and safety, let’s think creatively and wisely about our mental and spiritual health and wellbeing. This is quite a strange new world we are adapting to, but let’s not forget what makes life meaningful: our relationships, our sharing of joys and sorrows and ideas and experiences, our caring, our witnessing and accompaniment of each other, our learning and growing together. Something sacred goes on. We have noted before that among the features of a successful community that most celebrated are the friendships (and the bonds beyond friendship) that are formed and enjoyed. Let’s not let this feature of Kol HaLev wane.

So now is NOT the time to forego the mental and spiritual benefits of our synagogue community. There are many ways to continue and even extend our “religious” practices while we are not meeting together in person. Cantor George, with Shabbat Unplugged, has recorded many of the songs we sing, and you can access them here. Sing or chant uninhibited, in the privacy of your own home. If you do not have a copy of our prayerbook, you can access the Daily Prayerbook, the Shabbat Vehagim, or Prayers for a House of Mourning by clicking on the title of each prayerbook. Now may be the time to make a concerted effort to learn something new in order to participate more fully.

It is also true that KHL can continue to be KHL by means of the help we offer to each other. Should a need arise, we’re here for you! We can continue the practice of care and attention, of service and support. Our Chesed network invites everyone to let Lysh, Laurie or Shira know if you need special help during this time. Others have offered to help by shopping and delivering groceries or other needs.
Please know that you are not alone, that we’re all in this together, and we can double down on love of self and neighbor. Commitment to the collective, and to each other, is the source and substance of religious community. It is the special sauce, the most important ingredient, our most important asset. The objective is to thrive, not simply survive.

KHL - Please Join Us

We are located in The Church of the Holy Comforter (CHC), 130 W. Seminary Avenue, Lutherville 21093. All Friday and Saturday Shabbat services are handicap accessible. For directions to the Shul please click here.

Tue, April 13 2021 1 Iyyar 5781