Avram Mlotek is an unorthodox Orthodox ordained rabbi.

In 2015, he co-founded Base. Base is a growing movement of pluralistic rabbinic couples who use their homes as convening points for Jewish life centered upon hospitality, learning and service. Mlotek worked as the inaugural rabbi for Base in Manhattan for six years as well as the movement’s Director of Spiritual Life or Mashgiach Ruchani.

In May 2016, Rabbi Mlotek was listed as one of America’s “Most Inspiring Rabbis” by The Forward and has been called a “leading innovator in Jewish life today” by The New York Jewish Week as part of their “36 Under 36” Section.

Mlotek’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, JTA, The Forward, Tablet, Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, The New York Jewish Week, The Huffington Post and Kveller, among other blogs.

A grandchild of Holocaust refugees and noted Yiddish activists, Mlotek’s Yiddish cultural and rabbinic work has brought him to China, Ethiopia, Israel, Sweden, Romania, Ukraine, Lithuania and Australia. He is co-creator of the musical, Amid Falling Walls, with his father, Zalmen Mlotek, which featured Yiddish Holocaust songs and won the 2024 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue.

He received his rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School and BA from Brandeis University where he studied Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Creative Writing. He has studied Talmud at Yeshivat Hadar, educational theatre at City College, cantorial music at Yeshiva University, Islamic Scriptures at Bergen Community College and psychoanalysis at Blanton-Peale Institute. In May 2022, Mlotek earned his Masters in Social Work from Fordham University.

Mlotek has served as the rabbi in residence at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan where he directed their Rabbis Within Reach program and produced a variety of concerts and programs including the Third Seder which featured leading Klezmer and Yiddish singers from around the world.

He currently co-directs the Jewish Questions conversion program in New York City.

Mlotek is proud juggling Tati to Ravi, Hillel and Shabtai.