Author

Rabbi Juan Mejía

Rabbi Juan Mejía was born in Bogotá, Colombia. Raised a Catholic, he converted to Judaism after discovering the powerful beauty and message of Judaism.  He holds a degree in philosophy from Universidad Nacional de Colombia, and a Masters degree in Jewish Civilization from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Juan was ordained in 2009 by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York. He lives in Oklahoma City, where he serves as the Jewish Educator for Emanuel Synagogue. He also serves as Rabbi in Residence for Be’chol Lashon.

Juan is a passionate advocate for converts and making Torah available to all. He has been teaching Torah in Spanish for over a decade through his website.

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Articles

Colombian Rabbi Reimagines High Holiday Music

Colombian Rabbi Reimagines High Holiday Music

Understanding the power of music in building community and prayer, this year, Rabbi Mejia was inspired to set some of the traditional High Holiday texts and ideas to sounds inspired by his childhood, mixing Spanish with Hebrew.
Blessed Are Thou Lord Who Multitasks

Blessed Are Thou Lord Who Multitasks

I am an Internet rabbi. Every night, people from over 20 countries come into my virtual living room to recite the traditional Sephardic selichot, the prayers in preparation for the High Holy Day season, together as a tzibbur, a community.
Reb Zalman in the Andes

Reb Zalman in the Andes

It begins like an old Hasidic story. A reluctant maskil is strong-armed into visiting a chasidic rebbe. In this case, the rebbe was Reb Zalman and the maskil was myself. I was to serve as the translator for a virtual yechidus, an intimate one-on-one meeting, between Reb Zalman and a grateful Latin American student, Dr. Juan Jimenez Bravo.