{"id":694930,"date":"2025-11-14T21:37:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T18:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=694930"},"modified":"2025-11-14T21:37:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T18:37:11","slug":"meet-the-rabbi-with-a-freaky-shoe-for-every-occasion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=694930","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Rabbi With a Freaky Shoe for Every Occasion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fashion<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Meet the Rabbi With a Freaky Shoe for Every Occasion<\/h1>\n
By <\/span>Hannah Jackson<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

November 14, 2025<\/p>\n

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    Courtesy of Rabbi Arielle Stein<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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    For Rabbi Arielle Stein, dressing up every day isn\u2019t only a form of self-expression; it\u2019s a cornerstone of her rabbinic work. \u201cHiddur mitzvah<\/em> is an important concept in Judaism,\u201d she tells Vogue<\/em>, referring to the commandment to beautify. \u201cIt is important to me to dress in a way that feels thoughtful and considered.\u201d<\/p>\n

    But it\u2019s not so often that you see a rabbi on the bema in pierced Tory Burch wedge mules. In October, Rabbi Stein took to TikTok to share her collection of freaky shoes, which she wears while attending to liturgical duties. \u201cI had been really into Mandy Lee\u2019s Shoes for Freaks videos,\u201d she says. \u201cI was like, wait, this would actually be so funny if somebody did a rabbi version of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

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    TikTok content<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    Among them are her so-called bris shoes (which she also wore to her wedding earlier this month), a pair of white mules from Gray Matters with a notable twist. \u201cThey have an egg-shaped heel, which is symbolic in Jewish community of the circle of life, creation of nature,\u201d Rabbi Stein explained on TikTok.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIt\u2019s funky, but it\u2019s not too attention-y,\u201d she tells Vogue.<\/em> \u201cPeople that like artistic stuff are going to get this and other people just won\u2019t notice.\u201d Also in heavy rotation: the Tory Burch shoes she wears to officiate fashion-forward weddings, Nike Air Rift split-toe shoes for bar and bat mitzvah lessons, and a slashed, low-heeled pump\u2014also Gray Matters\u2014for baby-naming ceremonies.<\/p>\n

    While Rabbi Stein favors small brands for all parts of her wardrobe, she\u2019s especially fond of Gray Matters shoes, which she calls her \u201cgo-to clergy shoe brand.\u201d \u201cThey have shoes that are sculptural and artistic but also appropriate. It just feels right to me,\u201d she says. \u201cThey give a nod to the formality of a clergy role, [but] we\u2019re in New York City: people love funky fashion stuff, so they\u2019re a perfect combination.\u201d<\/p>\n

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    \"Rabbi<\/span><\/div>\n
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    Rabbi Arielle Stein<\/p>\n

    <\/span>Courtesy of Rabbi Arielle Stein<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Perhaps unsurprisingly, Rabbi Stein, who joined the Upper West Side congregation Rodeph Sholom in April 2024, has a background in the visual arts. \u201cI tried out kind of all the jobs that I thought I would like in art and nonprofits, a bunch of different fields, and just kept finding myself kind of bored,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

    Rabbinic work came naturally; she has several Jewish academics in her family. But becoming a member of the clergy didn\u2019t stymie Rabbi Stein\u2019s eclectic fashion sense. In fact, she finds that being an outr\u00e9 dresser actually helps her connect with her community. \u201cWhether or not people loved their [childhood] rabbi, generally it tended to be an older man in a suit,\u201d she says. \u201cI think that people feel comfortable engaging [with me] in a different way because it feels a little bit more like a peer relationship, and the door is open because we both like shoes or fashion.\u201d (To wit, earlier this week Rabbi Stein starred in Susan Alexandra\u2019s Hanukkah campaign.)<\/p>\n

    For the rabbi, fashion is not only a form of self-expression, but also a statement of who she is as a member of the clergy. \u201cI think that, for a lot of people, it\u2019s still very new that there are clergy of all genders, let alone young-appearing female clergy,\u201d she says. \u201cFor me, fashion feels like an important way of claiming this is who I am in the world, and that is part of who I am as a rabbi.\u201d<\/p>\n

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    Courtesy of Rabbi Arielle Stein<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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    Source URL: http:\/\/vogue.com\/article\/rabbi-arielle-stein-interview<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Fashion Meet the Rabbi With a Freaky Shoe for Every Occasion By Hannah Jackson November 14, 2025 Courtesy of Rabbi Arielle Stein For Rabbi Arielle Stein, dressing up every day isn\u2019t only a form of self-expression; it\u2019s a cornerstone of her rabbinic work. \u201cHiddur mitzvah is an important concept in Judaism,\u201d she tells Vogue, referring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":694931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-694930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-vogue-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=694930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/694931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=694930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=694930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=694930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}