Lee Bycel
{{Short description|American rabbi}}
Lee Bycel is an American Reform rabbi, rabbinic educator and social activist. He served as dean of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion{{cite news
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| first =Lesley
| title =Why be Jewish? Jews and non-Jews seeking answers
| newspaper =Northern California Jewish Bulletin
| location =San Francisco
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| date =November 24, 1995
| url =http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/2039/why-be-jewish-jews-and-non-jews-seeking-answers/
| access-date =February 28, 2014}} in Los Angeles for 15 years, as western regional executive director of American Jewish World Service,{{cite news
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| title =Activist rabbi returns to Bay Area with AJWS
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| date =June 22, 2007
| url =http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/32803/activist-rabbi-returns-to-bay-area-with-ajws/
| access-date =February 28, 2014 }} and, in 2017, retired from Congregation Beth Shalom of the Napa Valley.{{cite news
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| title =Congregation Beth Shalom welcomes Rabbi Lee Bycel as new Rabbinic Leader
| newspaper =Napa Valley Register
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| date =March 2, 2012
| url =http://napavalleyregister.com/lifestyles/announcements/congregation-beth-shalom-welcomes-rabbi-lee-bycel-as-new-rabbinic/article_adbf344c-642a-11e1-b87f-0019bb2963f4.html
| access-date =February 28, 2014}}{{cite news
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| first =Dan
| title =Napa synagogue picks rabbi with passion for social issues
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| location =San Francisco
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| date =March 22, 2012
| url =http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/37921/local-rabbi-joins-robert-redfords-newest-initiative/
| access-date =February 28, 2014}} He is an adjunct professor of Jewish Studies & Social Justice with the Swig Program in Jewish Studies and Social Justice at the University of San Francisco.
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| title =Lee Bycel: Adjunct Professor
| work =Jewish Studies & Social Justice
| publisher =University of San Francisco
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| url =http://www.usfca.edu/facultydetails.aspx?id=6442479844
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| access-date =February 28, 2014
| archive-url = https://archive.today/20140301072637/http://www.usfca.edu/facultydetails.aspx?id=6442479844
| url-status =dead
| archive-date =2014-03-01}}
Early life and education
Bycel grew up in Huntington Park, California. Bycel spent his 1977 honeymoon with his wife Judy in the Soviet Union opposing discrimination against Soviet Jews . They now have two "adult" sons and three grandchildren.
Bycel received a B.A. in philosophy from the University of California at Berkeley, was ordained as a rabbi at the Hebrew Union College, and received a doctorate from the Claremont School of Theology.
Humanitarian work and activism
Bycel has done humanitarian work in Chad and Darfur. With the International Medical Corps, he has led relief trips to Kenya, Rwanda and Sudan, and has also done relief work in Haiti and Ethiopia.
Bycel traveled extensively to mobilize support for the people of Darfur.{{cite news
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| title =Rabbi speaks out on African genocide
| newspaper =Juneau Empire
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| date =October 7, 2006
| url =http://juneauempire.com/stories/100708/loc_341273505.shtml
| access-date =February 28, 2014}}
He served as president of the Human Rights Commission of Los Angeles County.{{cite news
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| title =County Offers Hot Line for Reporting Conflict Situations
| newspaper =Los Angeles Times
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| date =October 13, 1995
| url =https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-10-13-me-56496-story.html
| access-date =March 1, 2014 }}
Honors
He has received the Humanitarian Award of the National Conference for Community and Justice.{{cite web
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| title =Seminar Moderator Lee T. Bycel
| work =Seminars
| publisher =Aspen Institute
| year =2014
| url =http://www.aspeninstitute.org/seminars/about/moderators/lee-t-bycel
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| access-date =February 28, 2014
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090726004955/http://www.aspeninstitute.org/seminars/about/moderators/lee-t-bycel
| url-status =dead
| archive-date =2009-07-26}}
On November 7, 2014, he received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters decree from Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion.[http://m.napavalleyregister.com/lifestyles/announcements/grapevine/rabbi-bycel-receives-honorary-doctorate/article_6228da48-a3ba-59db-8b08-101723eeaf57.html?mobile_touch=true Rabbi Bycel receives honorary doctorate], Napa Valley Register, November 6, 2014 The degree was presented by chancellor David Ellenson of the college, at the dedication of the new synagogue building for Congregation Beth Shalom of the Napa Valley, and that congregation's 60th anniversary celebration.
Congregational work
- Congregation Rodef Sholom, San Rafael, California (1979-1982)
- Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple, Beachwood, Ohio (1998 - 2000){{cite web
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| title =Get to Know Us
| publisher =Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple
| year =2014
| url =http://www.fairmounttemple.org/home-2/get-to-know-us/history/
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| access-date =March 1, 2014
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- Congregation Beth Shalom of the Napa Valley, Napa, California. (2012–present)
Executive and board service
Bycel has served on the board of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger and as president of the Brandeis-Bardin Institute.{{cite news
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| title =Mazon Pledges Funds to Sudan
| newspaper =The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
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| date =September 16, 2004
| url =http://www.jewishjournal.com/nation/article/community_briefs_20040917/
| access-date =February 28, 2014}} He served as executive director of the Redford Center,{{cite news
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| first =Michelle
| title =Redford Honors Activism at Berkeley Center
| newspaper =New York Times
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| date =February 10, 2010
| url =http://bayarea.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/redford-honors-activism-at-new-berkeley-center/?action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26contentCollection%3DOpinion%26region%3DTopBar%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26pgtype%3Darticle%23%2FLee+Bycel
| access-date =March 2, 2014 }} founded by Robert Redford “to collaborate in cultivating creative, action-based solutions to some of today’s most compelling civic, environmental and social challenges.” {{cite news
| last =Palevsky
| first =Stacey
| title =Local rabbi joins Robert Redford's newest initiative
| newspaper =Jweekly
| location =San Francisco
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| date =April 30, 2009
| url =http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/37921/local-rabbi-joins-robert-redfords-newest-initiative/
| access-date =February 28, 2014}}{{cite news
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| title =Credo: Redford Center director Lee Bycel
| newspaper =San Francisco Examiner
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| date =December 6, 2009
| url =http://www.sfexaminer.com/entertainment/credo-redford-center-director-lee-bycel
| access-date =February 28, 2014}} Along with Redford and Teri Heyman, he was an executive producer of the documentary film Watershed: Exploring a New Water Ethic for the New West, about western water issues.{{cite web
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| title =WATERSHED: EXPLORING A NEW WATER ETHIC FOR THE NEW WEST (USA, 2012, 50 min.)
| publisher =Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital
| year =2014
| url =http://www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org/films/show/883
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| access-date =February 28, 2014
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He is a senior moderator at the Aspen Institute, and operates a consulting business called CedarStreet Leadership.
On April 10, 2014, President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Bycel as a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.{{cite web
| last =White House Press Secretary
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| title =President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts
| date =April 10, 2014
| url =https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/04/10/president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts
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| via =National Archives
| work =whitehouse.gov
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References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20140518125256/http://www.cedarstreetleadership.com/ CedarStreet Leadership]
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Category:American Reform rabbis
Category:UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion alumni