Rabbi Avram Mlotek is an unorthodox Orthodox ordained rabbi, educator, and community builder whose work bridges tradition and innovation in contemporary Jewish life.
In 2015, he co-founded Base, a growing network of pluralistic rabbinic couples who transform their homes into centers for hospitality, learning, and service. He served for six years as the inaugural rabbi of Base Manhattan and as the movement’s Director of Spiritual Life (Mashgiach Ruchani), helping shape its vision and impact.
Rabbi Mlotek has been recognized as one of America’s “Most Inspiring Rabbis” by The Forward and named a “leading innovator in Jewish life today” by The New York Jewish Week as part of its ““36 Under 36.” His writing has appeared in major publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times and The New York Daily News as well as many Jewish publications like JTA, The Forward, Tablet, Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, The New York Jewish Week, The Huffington Post and Kveller, among other online forums.
A grandchild of Holocaust refugees, survivors, and noted Yiddish activists, Rabbi Mlotek’s work is deeply rooted in Yiddish culture and memory. His teaching and performance has taken him across the globe, including to China, Ethiopia, Israel, Sweden, Romania, Ukraine, Lithuania and Australia. He is co-creator of Amid Falling Walls, a musical developed with his father, Zalmen Mlotek, which features Yiddish Holocaust songs and received the 2024 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue recently adapted for PBS audiences.
Rabbi Mlotek received rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and a B.A. from Brandeis University, where he studied Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Creative Writing. His additional studies span Talmud (Yeshivat Hadar), cantorial music (Yeshiva University), educational theater (City College), Islamic scriptures (Bergen Community College), and psychoanalysis (Blanton-Peale Institute). He holds a Masters of Social Work from Fordham University.
He has served as Rabbi-in-Residence at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, where he directed the Rabbis Within Reach program and produced innovative cultural and spiritual programming, including the widely attended Third Seder, which featured leading Klezmer and Yiddish singers from around the world.
Rabbi Mlotek currently co-directs the Jewish Questions conversion program in New York City and is the author of five books including his latest My Yiddish Alphabet and The Torah of Social Media. He is the proud Tati to Ravi, Hillel, and Shabtai.
“What’s great about Avram Mlotek’s Why Jews Do That is that it embraces all Jews from ultra-Reform to ultra-Orthodox, from Ashkenazim to Sephardim and beyond our faith as well. Whether we are observant or not, we’ve all been taught: ‘’live in the question’; how wonderful that Avram’s book gives us answers to so many important ones—with humor and wisdom.”
“What Steph Curry is to the three-pointer, Avram Mlotek is to rabbi-ing. Let him —and this book—be your guide to a deeper understanding of Judaism.”
“Learning basic information about Judaism is often ponderous and, as a result, many people never learn it. But in the capable, consistently accurate and sometimes irreverent hands of Avram Mlotek, the process becomes both fun and funny.”
“Rabbi Avram Mlotek draws people into Jewish life with his enthusiasm, his warmth, his music, and his understanding that people are often embarrassed to ask even the most basic questions. Here, he makes those questions fun and accessible to all.”
“A book this good comes along only once in a millennial....But then again, Avram Mlotek is one in a million. So as one who was shaped by the 1960’s, I want to give this volume my highest rating, e.g., STEAL THIS BOOK.”
“Finally! A book about Jews written entirely in questions! Is that perfect? Reb Mlotek, adank for this bukh! (Thanks for this book!)”
“With amazing creativity, Rabbi Avram Mlotek presents a lively and profound introduction to Jewish life. From ‘HOW?’ to ‘WHY?’ he gives us the warmth of living Judaism. This book is thrilling!”