JILLI - Jewish Institute for Liefelong Learning and Innovation

Our experience with Rabbi Bass as our wedding officiant was wonderful. She explained each component of the jewish wedding ceremony, which helped us decide which parts felt meaningful for us to include. This flexible approach allowed us to do a wedding ceremony that reflected our values and our relationship. We were glad to have Rabbi Bass part of our special day!

We are very grateful to have found Rabbi Lia to officiate our wedding ceremony. As an interfaith couple planning a ceremony before sundown on Shabbat, we were especially thoughtful about balance — I wanted a distinctly Jewish ceremony, and it was equally important that my husband felt fully comfortable and included. From our very first conversation, Rabbi Lia met us with warmth, flexibility, and creativity. Over the two months leading up to our wedding, she walked us through every part of a traditional Jewish ceremony — explaining not just what happens, but why. She provided detailed worksheets and translation options, so we could decide what to keep, adapt, or leave out. Her approach starts from tradition but is completely customizable. She was extremely responsive and easy to schedule with. Because my husband’s family speaks Spanish, she incorporated Spanish into the ceremony as well — including having us say our vows in English, Spanish, and Hebrew. That multilingual element made the ceremony feel deeply inclusive. During the ceremony, she explained each portion before it happened so that all of our guests — Jewish and not — could understand and connect. Several guests told us afterward how meaningful it was. Rabbi Lia is also an artist, which added another layer of meaning. We were married under a chuppah covering she had hand-painted and generously lent us, and she gifted us a Kiddush cup that she made herself. On the wedding day, Rabbi Lia’s presence was warm and steady. We are so grateful for the care and thoughtfulness she brought to our wedding.

Rabbi Bliss married us last year at our home, we met with her several times to get to know one another, she was GREAT! She took time to get to know us, ask many many questions, ensure we were happy and ready, she was able to accommodate our wedding date, we did it at our home and it went so smoothly, we are so happy and thank you for such a memorable lovely day!

We feel very lucky to have decided on Rabbi Lia Bass from the Jewish Institute of Lifelong Learning and Innovation, as our wedding officiant, and we can’t recommend her highly enough. Rabbi Lia was accommodating and responsive, quick to reply to emails, and most importantly, helped us shape a ceremony that truly reflected who we are as a couple. She arranged virtual meetings with us every week in the time leading up to the wedding. She presented us with a range of options for the different components of the ceremony, offering various translations and interpretations of traditional texts, and explaining the meaning and significance behind each ritual. She encouraged us to choose what resonated with us, and was respectful and accepting of all our decisions. Rabbi Lia made our ceremony personal and meaningful. We are so grateful to have had her as our officiant — she helped make our wedding day truly memorable!

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We had such a wonderful experience working with Rabbi Lia. She was supportive, thoughtful, and creative in how she helped us organize the wedding ceremony. We loved the little surprises that came up on the wedding day, as well as how she honored our ideas and personal commitments. Everyone at the wedding commented on what a wonderful job she did. As an added bonus, we learned a lot more about our own Judaism, which perhaps was not our original goal but was so truly wonderful. Thank you for it all. We cannot say enough good things - we owe you so much.