About our Rabbi

Services at Ner Tamid are conducted by Rabbi Nadav Caine

Rabbi Caine, affectionately known as "Rav Nadav," came to the rabbinate from scholarship in the Philosophy of Religion and distinguished engagement in Jewish Education.  Originally from Philadelphia, the son of Rabbi Ivan Caine, Rav Nadav earned his B.A. in religion and philosophy at Princeton University in 1988 and his Masters in Theological Studies from Harvard University in 1993.  When not in school, Nadav lived for two years in Indonesia, and 1 year on kibbutz in Israel.  He then spent nearly ten years in the San Francisco Bay Area, working toward his doctorate at Stanford University under Dr. Arnold Eisen (now chancellor at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York) while working in Jewish Education.

While at Stanford University, Nadav won the Jewish Community Federation’s first annual $10,000 Diller Prize for best Jewish Studies teacher in the Bay Area, as well as the International Academy for Jewish Philosophy’s Essay Prize for his scholarly essay on the thought of Moses Mendelssohn.  From 2000 until 2002, Nadav was Director of Peninsula Havurah High in Palo Alto, an interdenominational community Hebrew High program, which grew from 120 students to 190 students under his leadership.  He served on numerous committees and boards of Jewish institutions while also teaching Jewish Studies at Cal State Hayward and San Jose State University.

At the age of 40, Nadav moved from academia to the rabbinate, enrolling at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles, California, where he was ordained as a Conservative rabbi.

Rav Nadav is passionate about people and works closely with Bar and Bat Mitzvah students, families, and seniors.  His congregational teachings emphasizes Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah), comparative religions, Talmud and Midrash, Psychology and Religion, and the relationship of Religion & Science.  Most importantly, Rav Nadav brings to Ner Tamid a genuine concern for the spiritual lives of all congregants.