A Torah Teacher Rooted in Tradition, Alive to Today
Rabbi Nachshon Carmi is a Torah teacher rooted in tradition and alive to the urgent spiritual and social needs of our time. A seasoned educator, ritual leader, and storyteller, he understands the rabbinate as sacred service: tending souls, cultivating community, and helping individuals encounter the Divine presence in everyday life.
He completed his rabbinic training with the Aleph–Jewish Renewal ordination program, founded by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z"l. Rabbi Carmi is committed to inclusivity, spirituality, and covenantal responsibility. He is devoted to the renewal and retrieval of Jewish customs and sacred teachings, guiding others to rediscover Davvening (prayer), Torah study, and ethical living.
Grounded in the intertwined legacies of Moroccan Judaism through his mother, and Polish Hasidism and Labor Zionism through his father, Rabbi Carmi embodies a Judaism that is both deeply ancestral and future-oriented.
Rabbi Carmi was raised in Haifa, Israel, and educated at Leo Baeck Education Center. He served in the IDF and then devoted years to a cross-continental, cross-cultural spiritual exploration. He brings this breadth of lived experience to his pastoral and communal leadership.
Rabbi Carmi holds a Bachelor's degree in Medicine from Ben Gurion University, and a Master of Education from Widener University. His rabbinate affirms that holiness resides in the fullness of human experience—in our bodies, relationships, struggles, and joys.
Prior to coming to The Center for Jewish Life at Beth David, Rabbi Carmi taught Jewish studies at Rosenblatt High School and Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton, where he served for ten years. For seven years, he served as assistant to Rabbi Ruth Kagan at Nava Tehila in Jerusalem.
Committed to building bridges across lines of difference, Rabbi Carmi is honored to be part of Mosaic Miami, the oldest interfaith clergy organization dedicated to confronting bigotry and building alliances in South Florida. For Rabbi Carmi, our covenant with God demands solidarity with our neighbors, and spiritual depth must give rise to moral courage.
A devoted gardener and naturalist, Rabbi Carmi sees the tending of soil and seed as a spiritual practice. For him, growing food and composting what remains after we eat is both an ecological commitment and a sacred metaphor: nothing is wasted, and everything can be upcycled. He shares his reflections about gardening on Instagram, @TropicalTorah.
Rabbi Carmi is a certified Mikveh guide and has been a member of the Open Mikveh movement for 20 years. He is working to develop innovative uses of mikveh immersion for healing and ritualizing life transitions.
Rabbi Carmi lives in Miami, Florida, with his wife, UM professor, author, and journalist Ilene Prusher, and their two teenagers. His extended biological family lives in Israel. He believes that the work of a rabbi is ultimately the work of hope—to help individuals and communities remember who they are, and what they are called to cultivate in this world.
Welcome. You made it. We are here together. Each one of us had to overcome internal and external challenges—from mobility to fear to ambivalence about Jewish ideas and practices. Despite all of that, you are here. This moment is so precious.
Read More
Together we will make this Center a place where we put the J of Jewish before the oy—to get to the possible Joy of being Jewish. A place where we belong by giving our gifts to each other and to God, however you understand God. A place we can all call home.
Read More.avif)
Our vision is for anyone who comes to the Center to feel they belong — whether they were born Jewish, chose Judaism, or neither. Your support keeps us going. We hope you'll join us in nurturing a community where all of us can thrive.
Center for Jewish Life at Beth David
2625 SW 3rd Avenue
Miami, FL 33129
305-854-3911
EIN: 59-0637812
