Leadership

Reb Barbara

Whether she’s leading a joyous service, facilitating a Torah discussion, or planning a class on tying tzitizit, you can be sure that student rabbi Dr. Barbara Thiede is hunting for another opportunity to demonstrate the rich beauty of Jewish culture, tradition, and heritage.

In addition to serving as Temple Or Olam’s spiritual leader, Dr. Barbara Thiede also teaches for UNC-Charlotte’s Department of Religious Studies. Her courses include explorations of the roles of various West Semitic goddesses in very ancient cultures (from about 4,000 years ago) to the study of Jewish women in more modern periods (the last 2,000 years). She also teaches Hebrew Bible, Judaism, the history of European anti-Semitism, and the Holocaust. She served as UNC-Charlotte’s Hillel Director for 2007-2009 and regularly delivers lectures on Jewish history, culture, and religion for area colleges, religious, and secular institutions.

Dr. Thiede is working towards rabbinic ordination and simultaneously pursuing ordination as a mashpiah (spiritual director) with ALEPH, the Alliance for Jewish renewal. Her mantra? “It’s not about what you know. It’s about what you want to know.”

Executive Board