Interim Rabbi Jonathan A. Biatch
Rabbi Jonathan A. Biatch
Rabbi Jonathan A. Biatch, DD, MAHL, earned a BA from California State University, Northridge, in radio-television broadcast management. He then participated in a Jewish student institute and worked as a television production assistant in Israel. He earned a master's degree in Jewish communal service from Brandeis University and worked for seven years at Jewish Federations in Buffalo, St. Louis and Houston. He entered the rabbinical program at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, receiving his master's degree in Hebrew Letters in 1991 and his rabbinic ordination in 1992. Rabbi Biatch served pulpits in Staunton, Harrisburg and Alexandra, Virginia before joining Temple Beth El in Madison, Wisconsin 19 years ago. He is now rabbi emeritus at Temple Beth El and joins Temple Emanuel of Tempe as interim rabbi on July 1, 2024.
His spouse, Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, is president of Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice. They have two children, Samantha and Joshua, and are proud of their accomplishments as actors. Rabbi Biatch also plays the accordion.