Sam leads Zimriyah, the big music festival, at Camp Ramah Wisconsin, 2019
Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sam Blustin grew up in the small but vibrant Minneapolis Jewish community. From the age of 10, he became involved in the B’nai Mitzvah teaching program at Beth El Synagogue, where after the age of 13, he served as a teacher, tester, and during college, served as a Master Teacher, overseeing a team of 30+ students studying for their B’nai Mitzvah and 15+ high school aged teachers.
Sam spent his summers growing up splitting time between playing baseball and attending Herzl Camp in Webster, WI. He was a camper at Herzl for 8 years, and feeling a strong need to give back to the community that was such a large part of his Jewish development, served as a counselor in training and staff member for 4 years total, with the last year being a Jewish Education Specialist.
In the summer of 2008, Sam attended Alexander Muss High School in Israel, where he spent 7 weeks in Israel learning about, visiting, and reliving Jewish history in chronological order, at the places where the history actually happened. His teacher, Yossi Katz, showed him for the first time that a Jewish educator could be fun, exciting, and really have a passion for Judaism and Jewish history in a relatable way to high school students. Sam came back to the US with a passion for Judaism and a challenge to bring true Jewish experiences to young Jews all over the states, hopefully igniting the same passion that was ignited in him by Yossi Katz.
While in college, he served as a counselor and Jewish Education Specialist at Herzl Camp, as a Master Teacher at Beth El Synagogue, as Jewish Music Specialist at the Temple of Aaron, as a student board member and Shabbat Intern at Hillel at the University of Minnesota, created the Multifaith Student Council at the University of Minnesota.
Having graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BS in Computer Science in May 2014, Sam spent a year abroad traveling across Israel. In the summer of 2014 he staffed USY Pilgrimage Poland-Israel, and the following year studied at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem and privately with Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan of Nava Tehila. In Fall 2015, he started rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, focusing on creating meaningful prayer and ritual.
While in Rabbinical School, Sam created Shira B’dira, a traditional egalitarian prayer community where melody is used to uplift the prayer experience. The monthly minyan gathers 25-50 20 and 30 year olds for prayer and potluck dinner, and has reached over 500 young professionals in the four years since it began.
Sam has also spent time as the Rosh Shira (head songleader) at Chizuk Amuno in Baltimore, Beth El Synagogue Center in New Rochelle, NY, and Carmel Academy. He served as the rabbinic intern for Rabbi David Schuck at Beth El in New Rochelle, and the Youth Director at Ansche Chesed.
Since graduating from the Rabbinical School at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) in 2020, Sam has served as the associate rabbi at Ahavath Achim Synagogue, one of Atlanta’s most storied synagogues.
Sam combines his passions for leading meaningful and potentially transformative prayer with his love of teaching, translating tradition to speak to today’s world, and helping individuals find meaning and inspiration in Jewish tradition.
