Rabbi Steven Blane is a pioneering Jewish spiritual leader whose work has helped redefine how Jewish life, learning, and community function in the digital age. As the founder of Congregation Sim Shalom, an international online liberal Jewish community, and Dean of the Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute (JSLI)—an online Rabbinical and Cantorial school—Rabbi Blane has emerged as a visionary voice shaping 21st-century Jewish practice.
Early Life, Education, and Musical Foundation
Rabbi Blane’s spiritual and creative journey began early. He was educated in Orthodox Jewish day schools, including the Yeshiva of Hudson County and Rogosin Yeshiva High School. His passion for music led him to earn a B.A. in Music Education (Voice) from Jersey City University, a foundation that would later deeply inform his work as a cantor, rabbi, and teacher.
Artistic and Entrepreneurial Background
Before entering full-time Jewish clergy work, Rabbi Blane pursued a diverse artistic career. He performed as a singer and actor both on and off Broadway, including in the production STRIDER, worked as a playwright, and appeared as a film extra. In 1986, he co-founded Blane & DeRosa Productions, specializing in audiobooks and children’s audio programming—an early expression of his entrepreneurial creativity and interest in new media.
Cantorial Career
Rabbi Blane’s cantorial path was mentored by Hazzan Noah Schall. He began his professional cantorial career leading High Holiday services in Conservative congregations in Biloxi, Mississippi (1991) and Buffalo, New York (1992). He served as Cantor at First Hebrew Congregation in Peekskill, New York (1994–1998), where he also acted as Spiritual Leader in his final year, and at Temple Beth Haverim in Mahwah, New Jersey (1996). From 1999–2006, he served as Cantor at Congregation Beth Israel in Bergenfield, New Jersey.
From 2001–2009, Rabbi Blane was a member of the Cantors Assembly. In 2009, he resigned after being given the choice of resignation or expulsion when he began officiating at interfaith weddings—an act that reflected his growing commitment to radical inclusion and pastoral responsiveness.
Rabbinical Ordination and Congregational Leadership
Rabbi Blane studied with Rabbi Joseph Gelberman and was ordained in June 2001 by Rabbinical Seminary International. He went on to serve as Rabbi and Spiritual Leader of Congregation Beth Tikvah–New Milford Jewish Center (2006–2009), before turning his full attention to building new models of Jewish community beyond traditional institutional walls.
Founding Congregation Sim Shalom
Drawing on his experience across Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and independent Jewish contexts, Rabbi Blane founded Congregation Sim Shalom—an international online synagogue that meets every weeknight and serves participants across North America, Europe, and beyond. Sim Shalom combines liberal theology, traditional liturgy, pastoral accessibility, and radical hospitality, offering a spiritual home to Jews by birth, Jews by choice, interfaith families, seekers, and the unaffiliated.
Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute (JSLI)
As Dean of JSLI, Rabbi Blane oversees the training of rabbis and cantors through an accessible, fully online educational model. JSLI emphasizes scholarship, pastoral competence, ethical leadership, and inclusivity—preparing clergy to serve real communities in a rapidly changing world.
Vision and Legacy
Rabbi Blane is also the founder of a new Jewish movement he calls Jewish Universalism—a framework grounded in Jewish wisdom, radical kindness, inclusivity, and moral responsibility to the broader human family.
Through his leadership, Rabbi Steven Blane has helped expand what Jewish community can look like in the 21st century—bridging tradition and innovation, music and prayer, learning and lived experience, all while leveraging technology to bring Jewish life to people wherever they are.
For more information on Rabbi Blane, visit Rabbi.Net