בס"ד
- Our Tel Aviv Rabbi -
Rabbi Shlomo Chayen
So Mazel Tov, you are getting married around Israel and you need a rabbi to get the kosher business done under the chupah. Wondering who to use? Well, look no further.
This website was built by a bunch of very happy Tel Aviv couples who highly recommend Rabbi Shlomo Chayen. Simply put, we love Shlomo and we know that you will too. He is rabanut approved & happy couples confirmed.
YOUR BIG
DAY &
YOU WANT
EVERYTHING
PERFECT
SOME OF
OUR THOUGHTS
Sivan & Nathan
The Jewish wedding ceremony is one of the most personal and intimate moments in life. It is also a public moment of attesting one's love and commitment in front of family and friends. My husband and I didn't want just a random rabbi for this moment, we wanted someone who knew us, who would care to make our chupah personal, someone we can relate to, and not just a stranger. A rabbi can either make or break the chupah, he can facilitate the emotional moments or take away from them. Rabbi Shlomo was not only a rabbi, but a friend. We loved having him there with us during these extraordinary moments. He was sensitive and kind, and our guests loved him as well. He is young, he understands what young couples are looking for, he is respectful of the couples' wishes, and reliable.
Shlomo incorporated personal stories of us when he spoke at the chupah, he made us feel at ease at an exciting moment, he is bilingual and since our wedding had many international guests - he was able to switch languages and include everyone. We loved Shlomo so much, that prior to our wedding, we invited him to join our Shabbat Chatan and incorporate Judaism into it, for us and for our guests. Our families loved him and he fit right in. On Shabbat day, he sat down with my husband and spiritually prepped him for the big day, which really helped him arrive to our chupah calm, ready and in the right spirit.
Shlomo is one of a kind, I couldn't have imagined my wedding led by anyone else. He opened the event beautifully and it just flew smoothly from there. It was a magical day never to be forgotten, thank you Shlomo for contributing to it. You really made all the difference.
Rabbi Shlomo was wonderful throughout our entire wedding process. From the very first time we met with him, he guided us along the way. He was kind and enabled us both to enter our big day with a huge smile on our face and in the right kind of spirit. If you are looking for a rabbi who can also be a mentor, and a perfect wedding coach, go for Rabbi Shlomo. He is the person you want by your side as you enter the new life ahead. Highly recommended!
Tzeira & Arsen
Getting married is one of the most special and defining moments of your life. And we are just so glad to have been able to share it with Rabbi Shlomo Chayen.
Rabbi Chayen guided us all the way from the very beginning, helping us navigate all the bureaucracy to celebrating at the wedding itself.
It was really important for us to have a ‘traditional’ and ‘spiritual’ wedding, yet also modern and tailored to our special needs. Rabbi Chayen was always there for us, ready to listen, help, offer advice and accommodate our needs, so that we could have the perfect wedding just the way we wanted.
Weddings in Israel can also be a very stressful occasion, especially for Olim, but we are grateful to Rabbi Chayen for making the entire process so smooth, allowing us to concentrate on what really mattered most to us on our big day.
We couldn’t recommend Rabbi Chayen any more highly for anyone looking to get married in Israel.
Miri & Alex
I couldn't have asked for a more perfect Rabbi than Shlomo Chayen to officiate our wedding. He met us before at his office to explain everything regarding the ketuba and how everything will proceed on the day of the wedding. He was personable and knew how to keep the crowd engaged. The one question so many of our wedding guests asked me afterwards was who was that rabbi?! To anyone looking to make their lifelong commitment official, mazel tov, we highly recommend doing it with the help of Rav Shlomo!
Cynthia & Ben
Rabbi Shlomo Chayen epitomizes what one would hope for in a Rabbi. Calm, compassionate, wise, and knowledgable. Rabbi Chayen was a real pleasure to have at our wedding. He came highly recommended and superseded our expectations. Rabbi Chayen met with us to discuss not only the logistics and halachkic needs, but also, he took the opportunity to share with us beautiful Jewish wisdom and advice. He made himself readily available and patiently answered all our questions. Rabbi Chayen helped us make our pre-wedding process enjoyable and smooth.
Tamar & Amir
In a country of religious extremes, it would have seemed nearly impossible to find a rabbi who could imbue our special moment with both traditionalism and a modern, progressive sensibility...had we not found Shlomo. In his conducting of our Chupah, Shlomo perfectly reflected our backgrounds, family values and personalities. One aspect of this was his seamless flow between English and Hebrew, making all of our guests from Israel and abroad feel included. Afterward, countless friends, both religious and ultra-secular, commented on how amazing our Rabbi was! We are so lucky to now call him a friend.
Tzlil & Teddy
We are so glad that Rav Chayen performed our wedding! We were looking for something unique and hard to find in Israel: a bilingual, open wedding which would be accepted by the Rabbanut. Rav Chayen was able to meet and exceed all of our expectations. He was flexible within the bounds of Halacha. He weaved between English and Hebrew, not translating word for word, but making sure that both the English speakers and the Hebrew speakers were engaged. He joked and made the audience laugh while respecting the sincerity of the event. He helped us with the paperwork and bureaucracy, making it as easy as possible. The words and knowledge he shared with us both before the wedding and under the chuppah made a lasting impact. But most importantly, he took the time to get to know us and tailored the wedding to our personalities, values, and community. Rav Chayen made the process easy and enjoyable and we would definitely recommend him for any couple looking for a meaningful ceremony and especially for anyone who might be hesitant about navigating the system alone. Thank you again Rav Chayen!
TOP TEN
TO DO'S
1) Find your soulmate
2) Contact the Rabbi
3) Pick a date & venue
4) Sign up with any rabbanut
5) Invite your friends
6) Buy a dress & suit
7) Meet the Rabbi
8) Talk out your vision
9) Schmooze about the process
10) Wake up happy & calm for your wedding knowing everything is set for your very special day
Rabbi Shlomo Chayen was born in 1984 in the United States and made Aliyah with his family at the age of two. Shlomo was raised in Petach Tikva and continued his religious education at the hesder Yeshivat Ma’alot in northern Israel. While learning at yeshiva he was in charge of community outreach. Shlomo entered the IDF in 2004, and during his service he became a commander in the Paratroopers Unit, and went on to create a new unit in the reserves called Yassar. This unit is unique in that its mission is to enter enemy territory to retrieve casualties and their body parts, as Zaka would within Israel. As the Yassar commander, Shlomo brought together top-line combat soldiers, who are skilled in navigation, parachuting, helicopter flying, urban warfare, etc. as well as those who are especially sensitive to and understanding of the importance of this holy service. During the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza, Shlomo also created Am HaNetzach, a nonprofit organization to assist the affected families where he managed over 2000 volunteers.
After his army service in 2007, Shlomo entered the Meretz Kollel in Mevatzeret Tzion. Shlomo become the Chief Operations Officer of the Sharei Mevatzeret Tzion Yeshiva for both the boys' and girls' international programs and COO of the Torah BeTzion Institute. At this time, Shlomo completed a professional course in nonprofit management, and studied both life and couples coaching. Shlomo began his Bachelor’s Degree in Education at Rehovot College in 2010 and in 2012, he received rabbinical smicha from Rabbi Weitzman of Ma'alot.
Shlomo moved to Tel Aviv in 2013 and became the educational director of a Tel Aviv outreach program working with young Israeli business leaders. In 2015, Shlomo was also inaugurated as the official community rabbi of the North Central Synagogue at 126 Ben Yehuda Street in Tel Aviv, which he was tremendously instrumental and successful in reviving, making him the beit knesset's first rabbi in over thirty years. Shlomo served as the rabbi of the synagogue through 2018 and since has been the main rabbi of young & vibrant Jewish community in Tel Aviv as the Educational Director of the Am Yisrael Foundation (www.AmYisrael.com). Shlomo is also the co-founder of the in-English Beit Midrash Torah Tech (www.TorahTech.co). Shlomo is approved to perform weddings under the Tel Aviv Rabbanut & with Tzohar, having married off many many dozens of happy couples, accompanying them throughout the entire process. He has a black belt in Krav Maga, plays guitar, sings, plays basketball, and is a trained and active volunteer emergency first-responder medic with Hatzalah. Currently, Shlomo is also enrolled at the Open University working on another degree in Sociology. Shlomo and his wife Chemda, an MD in pharmacology, live in Tel Aviv with their five adorable children - Neriya, Eitan, Talya, Amichai & Nili.
ABOUT OUR RABBI
