Rabbi Laura Baum
Head of School
Recognized and valued for her leadership, intellect, innovation, caring, and collaboration, Rabbi Baum brings unique skills and experiences to Rockwern. Educated at Yale and trained at Hebrew Union College, she is a rabbi with an MBA and a degree in psychology, with a focus on development and cognition. She became Head of School at Rockwern in 2018 and loves being in a school environment where learning and curiosity are celebrated and community is built.
Prior to coming to Rockwern, she was Associate Vice President of Learning and Engagement at Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP) in Boston. There, Rabbi Baum led the largest division of the Planning Department where she was responsible for allocating $18 million to the community and for developing, overseeing, and implementing a comprehensive strategy to connect people to Jewish life, learning, and community.
From 2008-2015, Rabbi Baum served as Rabbi of Congregation Beth Adam here in Cincinnati. While there, she built her rabbinate outside the box and founded OurJewishCommunity.org, which reached hundreds of thousands of people around the world. An expert on the changing needs of the Jewish community, Rabbi Baum created an innovative model for engaging those seeking a new way to connect to Judaism. In 2010, she was named by the Forward as one of the fifty most influential female rabbis in America. She is a Rabbis Without Borders Fellow and a Wexner Field Fellow. Her writing and work have been featured on CNN, the Jerusalem Post, NPR, and the New York Times.