Rabbi Scott Shafrin didn’t set out to become a rabbi. Growing up in Milwaukee, he was drawn to music and thought his future might be at a piano, not a pulpit. But over time, through college, community organizing work, and a formative summer back home, his path shifted. What started as an interest in helping people eventually became a calling.
Now, after stops in Boston, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and St. Louis, Shafrin has landed in Cincinnati as the senior rabbi at Adath Israel Synagogue. Along the way, he’s built a career shaped as much by relationship-building and organizing as by traditional rabbinic work.
Whether he’s leading services, teaching, or working across communities, the focus is on connection, helping people find meaning with each other, even when they don’t always agree.
We sat down with Rabbi Shafrin to explore his path to the rabbinate, the role music plays in both his life and work, and why he sees Judaism as a pursuit of harmony.
