Riverway in the News!
Jewish Journal - January 29, 2015
CJP Honors 'Movers and Shakers'
“Jewish Boston is unlike any other urban Jewish landscape for young adults. It is open, creative, diverse and more collaborative across institutions than any other city I’ve lived in, thanks largely to CJP,” said honoree Rabbi Matthew Soffer, associate rabbi at Temple Israel of Boston and director of the Riverway Project, their initiative that connects young adults to Judaism.
Boston Globe - January 1, 2015
Out of Synagogue, Jewish Teachers Reach Eager But Busy Students
Temple Israel’s Riverway Project offers Torah study in neighborhood coffee shops around the city once a month. Food and drink are free, and Rabbi Matt Soffer brings a couple of milk crates filled with bibles for the discussion.
“There was a time, decades ago, when all we needed to do was open the door and people would walk in,” Soffer said. “Those days are over.”
Liberty Voice - October 10, 2014
Yom Kippur: Rabbi Teaches Meaning of Sorry Without the But (Part 4 of 4)
This article continues from Yom Kippur: Rabbi Teaches Meaning of Sorry Without the But (Part 3 of 4), in which Rabbi Matthew Soffer of Temple Israel of Boston teaches what it means to say “sorry” without adding “but.”
JWeekly.com - August 21, 2014
the synagogue today | Outreach rabbi’s ‘playlist’ to entice Jews on periphery
In Boston, Temple Israel’s Riverway Project is geared toward the millennial generation, with a focus on worship, intensive Jewish text study, and social action activities and events held outside the synagogue building, in an area where younger Jews are more likely to live.
The Times of Israel - August 9, 2014
Coming Home from Israel in Exile: Shabbat Nachamu 5774
Matthew Soffer is a rabbi at Temple Israel of Boston, where he directs the Riverway Project, an initiative engaging individuals in their 20’s and 30’s in Jewish life. At Temple Israel he leads Ohel Tzedek, the social justice arm of the community, which practices congregation-based community organizing, through the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO). Matthew serves on the Board of the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA).
Jewish Telegraphic Agency - August 7, 2014
In Boston, Riverway Reaches Young Jews Outside the Synagogue
Welcome to Riverway Cafe, a program of Temple Israel of Boston to reach out to millennial Jews. The program is an outgrowth of the Riverway Project, which brings Jewish events to unconventional settings, like Shabbat services in bars.
At Dive Shabbat, a Friday night service held at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, packed crowds turn out for music, prayer and alcohol consumption, ritual and otherwise. Now 13 years old, Riverway recently held an “Open Bar Mitzvah” with bottles of specially brewed “beer mitzvah” beer.
Jewish Journal - April 25, 2014
Rosner's Torah-Talk: Parashat Kedoshim with Rabbi Matthew Soffer
Our guest this week is Rabbi Matthew Soffer, assistant rabbi at Temple Israel in Boston & director of the Riverway project. Rabbi Soffer worked as an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant Fellow at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, DC, and from 2003-2005 he worked for the Union for Reform Judaism, as the advisor to the Executive Board of the North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY). During his years at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), Matt was a Bonnie and Daniel Tisch Rabbinical Fellow, A Kavod Tzedakah Fellow, and he served as Revson Rabbinical Fellow at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, NY, where he coordinated social justice activities and organized Brooklyn Jews, the 20s and 30s project of the congregation. After his ordination in May 2010, he joined the Temple Israel community as an assistant Rabbi and the Director of the Riverway Project.
Boston Globe - January 18, 2014
Leaders of Many Faiths Gather at Temple Israel
Rabbi Matthew V. Soffer of Temple Israel, who specializes in work with people in their 20s and 30s, said he and Vali are planning an occasion that would bring together younger adults in their respective congregations.
“We have both anticipated that this is not going to be a one-off gathering,” Soffer said. “The point of this is to really build a bridge and kick off something that is going to be lasting and enduring.”