We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Emily Stern. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Emily below.

Emily , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on is myself. I’ve worked for many years on expressing the truth of my inner world and soul. Truth is not an external search or something to find or acheive, but something within us to remember.

In Hebrew, the word “Shalom,” means peace, but also means wholeness, Having my inner soul spark show up in the physical world through art and expression has always felt like the most important thing to me. This has included becoming a rabbi, writing books, and writing music– whatever the medium!

The Divine is not somewhere far away, but already here. When I live and create from that oneness, I feel aligned with the purpose that flows through all things. All choices are spiritual practices.

Emily , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am Rabbi Emily Stern, a spiritual teacher, artist, writer, and community leader devoted to helping people experience their lives as sacred.

My path began in theater. I studied drama at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts because I was always drawn to communing with an audience. It is a mysterious energy when hearts are open and something larger than any one person is present.

Over time, I came to realize that what I loved most about theater was the shared presence, and transformation that happens when truth is spoken and explored together. That same longing for sacred connection led me deeper into spiritual study and eventually to the rabbinate. I began to understand that prayer, ritual, and art all serve the same purpose: to reveal the soul, awaken what’s hidden, and connect us to the Oneness that holds everything.

Today, I serve as the rabbi of Kol HaLev Synagogue in Maryland, a creative, heart-centered Jewish community. I guide people through sacred experiences of text study, sharing circles, and prayer services.

I also write and compose, creating books, music, plays, and teachings that help others integrate Jewish and spiritual wisdom into their lives in deeply personal ways. My works often weave together poetry, Torah, embodiment, meditation, and creative exercises to help people rediscover the holiness of their own stories.

What sets my work apart is the integration of creativity and spirituality, the way I use artistic process as a form of prayer and self-revelation. Whatever the artform, my goal is always to help people touch the infinite through the ordinary, and to feel at home in their own souls.

What I am most proud of is not a product or a project. It’s the general breadth of my work, and the way people transform in our shared spaces. When someone finds their voice, belonging in community, thoughts, and peace, that is my art.

If there’s one thing I want people to know about my work, is that everything, whether a song, a ritual, or a moment of silence, is an invitation to remember that the Divine is not somewhere else, but already here, alive in every breath.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the way creating allows me to discover my relationship with everything. I love to play a writing game sometimes where I, or a friend, pick a random word. It can be anything, and we each write our association to that thing in any form- i.e. a poem, a story of our most simple personal association to it. When I write, I’m exploring how I’m connected to the world and the Divine. Writing becomes a sacred practice of relationship, engaging with life and bringing my deepest subconscious thoughts of connection to the word to the surface. When I finish a project, it feels like completing a dialogue that has taught me something new about who I am and how everything belongs.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think what people who see themselves as “non-creatives” often don’t realize is that creativity isn’t really about perfection or approval. It’s more about trusting that your voice belongs in the conversation of being alive.

When I released my first musical album, “Birth Day,” some people were very hard on it. But for me, it was sacred work. Creating it felt like midwifing something that needed to exist.

I believe criticism comes only from people who are blocked artists. So, I would urge “non-creatives” to create.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.emilystern.org
• Instagram: @rabbiemilystern
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@emilysternmusic
• Other: The Synagogue I am the Rabbi of is:
  kolhalevmd.org