Rabbanit Alissa Thomas-Newborn
Based-In Rabbi
Rabbanit Alissa Thomas-Newborn serves as a Based-In Rabbi for Northern New Jersey. She is a Board Certified Chaplain at New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center where she specializes in Palliative Care, Critical Care, and Emergency Psychiatric Care, and she is the current president-elect of NAJC (Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains). She is also the Devorah Scholar at Netivot Shalom in Teaneck, NJ.
From 2014 to 2022, Rabbanit Alissa served as a spiritual leader at B’nai David-Judea Congregation, as the first Orthodox female clergy in Los Angeles. A prolific writer and speaker, she received her ordination from Yeshivat Maharat and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Brandeis University with a degree in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Classical Studies Archaeology and Ancient History. She lives in Teaneck, NJ with her husband Akiva and daughter Ella.
