By Rabbi Patrick Beaulier (isn’t THAT vain?)
My friend Kohenet Ketzirah (who I desperately still need to visit soon) has a habit of reintroducing herself online every once and a while. In that spirit, here I am…
My name is Rabbi Patrick Beaulier and I am the Director of Darshan Yeshiva. It’s nice to meet you.
Here’s what my bio on Darshan Yeshiva has to say about me:
Rabbi Patrick Beaulier is the Executive Director and President of the Board for PunkTorah, the parent organization of Darshan Yeshiva and Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary.
So that sounds a little complicated. Breaking it down: I founded something called PunkTorah over a decade ago (more about that in our first premium post coming in a few weeks).
That organization would then give birth to two key projects: Darshan Yeshiva and Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary. Those projects are under PunkTorah’s umbrella. And I suppose in this strained metaphor, I’m the one holding up the umbrella in the rain.
More concretely, my role as Executive Director is the big picture. I’m always looking at social and spiritual trends, our financial wellbeing, how we can build more relationships, and on a good day, how to cultivate the best of out of the incredible team that makes this thing possible.
Someone recently asked me how I was able to run these organizations all on my own, while being a parent and a rabbi for a community in my local area. The answer is simple: I don’t. Darshan Yeshiva has thirty rabbis, two cantors, multiple educators, contractors and other support services. This doesn’t not include all the people who make Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary possible (and there is little overlap).
Reframing the question, I would say that the reason this is possible is because of you, the students. And in the case of our Substack, the subscribers.
A fun fact about PunkTorah: ninety-four percent (94%) of our budget comes from people who pay for some kind of classes — whatever those classes may be. In fact, we recently were asked by an alum of a program if she could donate to us, and we scratched our heads to figure out the best way to do that!
While I give myself very little credit for the success of PunkTorah, the move from asking for donations to selling content is one area where I will claim responsibility. Its an outgrowth of my background — my parents were in the hotel and restaurant business. I saw how small businesses worked. And while my parents are not Jewish, I learned that the marketplace could be a space where holiness could dwell. My late father, Art Beaulier (of blessed memory) used to tell me how much he enjoyed watching customers at parties they hosted in their restaurant. That’s because my parents believed in hospitality. And that hospitality became a value deep in my soul.
When I’m not thinking about budgets, hiring, programs, partnerships and other things, my life is incredibly simple. My congregation has a Shabbat dinner once a month, along with holiday events. I’m married, and my wife and I recently became the parents of a seventeen year old young man. We have two cats, a house in the suburbs, and a while we do have a room filled with Jewish books and a sefer torah (a torah scroll), we also have a house bar decorated in a Trader Vic’s tiki theme. Hey, every rabbi needs a hobby. I’m also an aficionado of espresso, I make great hummus and my passion for Star Wars has not waned since I was six years old. While I titled our organization PunkTorah, I stopped being punk many, many, many years ago. I mostly listen to one dollar easy listening records from the 1960’s, the background sounds of theme parks on YouTube, and whatever they’re playing in the office (Big Band crooners, the occasional 1990’s emo, and jazz standards).
That’s a little about me. Dear reader, dear student, I’d love to know more about you! Comment on this article and tell me what your story is!
So to recap:
Darshan Yeshiva falls under the umbrella of a larger Jewish organization called PunkTorah
Rabbi Patrick is the Executive Director
A sefer torah is a torah scroll. Torah is the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, but is also the word for “law” or perhaps “divine instruction”