Rabbi Linda Portnoy Goldberg

made us feel as if she knew us our entire lives. She took the time to get to know us, our story, our families, and our love. She is an expert in organizing everything needed for the ceremony and would go out of her way to make sure that we were following the necessary steps for when the wedding day arrived. There is not another rabbi I could imagine hiring. Rabbi Linda was one of the best decisions we made about our entire wedding day.

and as a couple. She explained Jewish traditions and allowed us to pick and explore new elements to make the ceremony our own! Rabbi Linda was very helpful with guidance for our ketubah, reviewing our vows and making sure all of our guests (from a Jewish background and not) could experience each moment in a thoughtful way. Rabbi Linda made many suggestions for ways to honor my non-Jewish family as well. If you are looking for someone you can fully trust with the most important part of your wedding day you have found the right person! Rabbi Linda will narrate your beautiful love story and curate a ceremony that is uniquely yours.

atient. We enjoyed every moment under the Chuppah and will forever be grateful. She is a winner! Carrie and Craig

ssed, but every wedding we've been to since has copied elements of ours! Rabbi Linda really got to know us over the course of multiple meetings and crafted the ceremony to our specific relationship. Most of our guests assumed she was a long-time family rabbi who had known us for years. She is very flexible and adaptable to specific needs - we had an inter-faith wedding on a Saturday. She offers a great mix of traditional and non-traditional suggestions, and some of her updates to traditions were some of our favorite moments of the day. She's also such a warm and caring person that she brought a fantastic energy to the role and we loved getting to know her in the lead-up to the wedding. We just had our first child and asked Rabbi Linda to perform our baby naming. Once again she crafted a ceremony exactly to our style, mixing traditional prayers with modern readings that spoke to us. And she remembered our preferences from four years earlier and referenced elements of the wedding ceremony. We feel lucky to have her as our new family's rabbi, and highly recommend her for all life cycle ceremonies.

e delivered perfectly. We received so many compliments on the ceremony! Rabbi Linda met with us several times leading up to our wedding, getting to know us as a couple and helping us craft a special ceremony that was true us as a couple. We couldn't recommend Rabbi Linda enough!

performed a beautiful speech and service. We highly recommend Rabbi Linda

ul storytelling, and she incorporated elements we requested to make it a perfect wedding for us. Truly could not ask for a better Rabbi!

ht person to marry us was a challenge. We are so happy we found Rabbi Linda, who perfectly melded our customs together beautifully. Working with her leading up to the wedding was so fun, and she made us feel comfortable at each step. Even though we had only known her for a short time, it felt like we'd known her our whole lives. She crafted the most perfect ceremony that felt 100% personalized to us. On the day, she explained all customs so everyone in the room could follow (and even made sure to translate any Hebrew!) We’ve gotten so many compliments on how beautiful, meaningful, and funny our ceremony was. People still rave about Rabbi Linda. We’d work with her a million times over, and can’t thank her enough for making our wedding the most special day. Book her now!!! You won’t regret it.

itself, it was a gorgeous ceremony that even the non-english speakers could follow. Every single one of our (200+) guests said it was one of the best ceremonies that had ever attended. We love Rabbi Linda.

of planning an inter-faith wedding. In addition to being an incredible officiant, Rabbi Linda was extraordinarily understanding and accommodating when we had to postpone our wedding twice due to the pandemic. She was always quick to respond to our questions and concerns and went above and beyond to ensure we were comfortable and supported during this stressful time. We are so grateful for her flexibility and kindness, and it only added to our overall positive experience with her. Rabbi Linda crafted a ceremony that was meaningful and inclusive for both of our families, and her delivery was impeccable. Our guests were all raving about how beautiful and heartfelt the ceremony was, and we couldn't agree more. She truly made our special day all the more special, and we are so grateful to have had her as our officiant. So you don't have to deliberate on this one–book Rabbi Linda immediately. Five stars!

b of explaining the ceremony to our interfaith guests, and personalized the ceremony so that we felt it was a celebration of both of us individually and as a couple. We cannot recommend Rabbi Linda highly enough, especially for interfaith weddings! So many guests told us afterwards that the ceremony was among the best they have ever attended.

r wedding having Catholic guests as well and she was soo helpful and amazing at creating the most perfect ceremony! She listened to all of our needs and created a beautiful story about our love story. All of our guests could not stop commenting about and saying it was the most beautiful ceremony they have ever attended. You will not regret booking her to officiate your ceremony!!

more gracious, knowledgable and kind officiant.

ur ceremony and she guided us with such wisdom. She helped us with every step of our ceremony. Our ceremony was so memorable and Rabbi Linda tailored it to exactly what we wanted. We were so happy to have Rabbi Linda officiate our wedding and would recommend her over and over again for any life event! Thank you so much to Rabbi Linda!

xpect when we started the ceremony planning process. And let me tell you- Rabbi Linda exceeded ALL of our expectations of what we could have ever dreamed of. From the very beginning, Rabbi Linda was very kind, caring, and professional. She took the time to learn about us as a couple. She also took the time to speak to my husband’s priest. She made everyone feel so loved and so welcomed. Rabbi Linda has officiated interfaith marriages in the past. Her experience was definitely visible and appreciated by all. When we met up in person about a month before our wedding date, she came ready with plans! Her plans tied in both faiths seamlessly, had many different options for my husband and I to choose from, highlighted our love and families, and most importantly, highlighted our faith. Everything was just perfect. Our ceremony was absolutely beautiful, special, and so meaningful. All of our wedding guests could not stop raving about the ceremony! My husband’s priest has never officiated an interfaith wedding before ours, and agreed with all of these sentiments. He stated he had a wonderful experience, loved working with her, and that our ceremony was so memorable and so special. I really could not recommend her enough!

on into the planning of our ceremony, and executed far beyond our expectations. During the planning process Rabbi Linda gave us all the time we needed, made the planning process easy, provided excellent suggestions, and was always responsive and easily available whenever we had questions. Rabbi Linda is a loving and kind person who truly cares about helping to make the ceremony of your dreams. We could not have imagined a better ceremony, and we will cherish it forever. We unequivocally recommend Rabbi Linda as a wedding officiant without any hesitation.

way. Rabbi Linda is extremely organized, responsive, kind-hearted, and wise. We had a mixed ceremony blending Jewish and Catholic faiths. Rabbi Linda had done this many times before and has the perfect ceremony for it and will give you a recommendation for an amazing Catholic deacon as well. It was seamless. We got so many compliments on how the two cultures blended so beautifully. Further, she made the ceremony personable by adding in our story about how we met and how our personalities and values blend- and she did it with such good storytelling and humor it was a nice moment for the audience to have a break from crying and chance to laugh. And it is not just at the ceremony but every step of the way leading up the ceremony. Rabbi Linda made our ketubah process seamless, recommending an amazing ketubah company and performing a beautiful ketubah ceremony as well and writing out the Hebrew so beautifully for us. Thank you, Rabbi Linda!!

th Rabbi Linda it was clear she was the one. Rabbi Linda made the entire planning process seamless for us, kept us on task, made us feel at ease and produced the ceremony of our dreams. So many guests commented on how beautiful the ceremony was and many even said they want a Jewish wedding of their own someday! We love Rabbi Linda and would recommend you to anyone!

my husband and I am Jewish and he is catholic. So a lot of balls to juggle and Rabbi Linda did it all and with such a grace, love and humor. From the husbands perspective: Linda was great at getting to know us, asking pertinent questions about our past and our children. She brought sunshine to our special day. She made the ceremony to fit us which is refreshing. She is detailed oriented, as well as flexible, she placed very little pressure on my bride. The wedding flowed naturally which enhanced the moment of I do.

up Catholic and we didn't really know how to go out developing our ceremony. Rabbi Linda worked with us to offer suggestions and recommendations on the best ways to include important pieces from both of our families and traditions. For us, it was important to make sure that all parties in the room (regardless of their religious faith) felt like they were a part of the ceremony and no one felt unincluded simply because they didn't know the tradition. She truly helped to shepherd us to develop a ceremony that was unique to us. She shared lots of options; not just a formulaic must-do's. We received a ton of compliments during the wedding reception (and since then) about how amazing our Rabbi was. We think so too!! If she officiates your ceremony, we promise, you will be pleased.

to finish and was always available for a zoom call to discuss last minute details. Rabbi Linda took the time to meet with us in person several times before the wedding to get to know us individually and as a couple. She tailored the ceremony including specific Judaic elements and even creating new more egalitarian options for us. We had many friends and family members come up to us during the wedding and several weeks after, complimenting us on our rabbi and our ceremony. It was such a meaningful and wonderful experience for everyone involved thanks to Rabbi Linda Goldberg.

nized and on track, which I appreciated especially during moments of wedding planning stress! Rabbi Linda is also just a gem of a person - from the moment we met her, we knew we wanted to work with her. Our guests loved her as well!

iarch of the family, will not be able to attend due to recent health issues. In order to include my mother (Baba) in the wedding celebration, we decided to have the Ketubah signing at my mother’s house. Rabbi Linda helped us bring this idea to fruition. She helped my daughter and her fiancé chose and write an interfaith ketubah (our family is Jewish and my son-in-law's family is Hindu). She helped create a beautiful and meaningful ceremony. Our blended family all felt a personal connection to this inclusive ceremony. My mother was truly touched by this loving gesture. We can’t say enough about Rabbi Linda. She understood our challenge and worked with us to make the best of a difficult situation.

ony isolating his family. Rabbi Linda worked with us to put together a beautiful ceremony that made everyone feel included. She's truly the best!

he best!

remony. They even took videos & photos for us to keep. We can truly say she loves what her doing. Highly recommended.

ith my loved ones felt heartbreaking. Enter.... Rabbi Linda. My [now] husband and I had met with a bunch of officiants and were disappointed at the quality of service they were promising and the cost of service. Rabbi Linda made us feel special and excited for our big day, despite the undesirable circumstances. To be perfectly honest, it ended up being the perfect day. I don't think it could have gone any better. Rabbi Linda customized the ceremony to our needs and wants. She made it short, sweet and beautiful. We were able to invite over 100 people to our Zoom and my maid of honor was able to host and record the way I wanted. Rabbi Linda's husband even joined our Zoom to take photos! Thank you thank you Rabbi Linda!

size to 4 people in a back yard (thanks Covid). And even though we did the wedding over zoom, Rabbi Linda made it special and intimate. We talked to her many times from January to July and she made the process insanely easy and fun! She catered her officiating to us and made it a very personal ceremony. Would 100% recommend to anyone looking for an officiate. Thanks Rabbi Linda!!!

C but that of course couldn't happen because of COVID-19. Our original officiant left the state for family reasons, and there was no news at the time of provisions for extending marriage licenses and ceremonies had to be performed in person. We wrote to Rabbi Linda about a week before our license expired and she performed the ceremony the DAY before it expired! We flip-flopped so much on what we wanted in the ceremony- first, we wanted the full Jewish ceremony and then realized we really wanted our parents there in person to watch and participate in those rituals which was not possible... Rabbi Linda was SO incredibly patient, kind, and accommodating with us during that process of ceremony design. Rabbi Linda allowed us to come to her lovely backyard and deck with two witnesses for a socially distanced ceremony. Her husband took photos and a video, our parents watched on Zoom and the rabbi performed an absolutely lovely short and sweet legal ceremony for us! Though she helped with a very quickly planned ceremony during the time of Coronavirus, I have no doubt that every ceremony she is a part of is handled with the same level of care, attention to detail and genuine enthusiasm for the love of helping couples unite in matriomny.

that she took such care in ensuring that we could still have our small ceremony even though there was the pandemic. She made sure to have zoom calls leading up to the day and took all precautions necessary to keep us safe. Her speech about my husband and I was so beautiful and meaningful!

wedding day this rule didn’t apply. So Linda kindly offered her deck as a place for our ceremony. We can’t be more grateful and appreciative. You and your husband have made our day so special!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! We love you and hope to see you again one day!!:) I highly recommend her to everyone who wants to have an amazing day and happy life!

to officiate our wedding. After some time on Google and various wedding review website, I came across Rabbi Linda's profile and gave her a cold call. From our first conversation, I could tell she was someone that would make us feel comfortable and that we would be excited to work with. We met with Linda in person a few times and had a couple of additional phone/video calls prior to our wedding date. We are so happy that we found and were able to work with Rabbi Linda. People remarked at how lovely and personal our ceremony was (which was something very important to us). We wanted our guests to remember that they were there to celebrate the love of two specific individuals and we knew that the ceremony set the tone for the remainder of the evening. I would highly recommend Rabbi Linda to a couple planning their wedding. As practicing but not overly religious Jews, we wanted to incorporate many traditions and prayers into our wedding ceremony, but also chose to exclude some other traditions. For example, our ceremony included Hebrew and English, but we did not do the traditional seven circles. What was great about working with Linda was that she was able to fully customize based on our desires and was able to provide suggestions where we did not have a strong opinion. She understood what we were looking for and had great options of specific wording for each part of the ceremony (and of course was open to us providing our own). It made the process easy, while also preserving the "special" feeling of making it our own. The day of the wedding can be hectic, especially as it gets closer to the ceremony, since that is the time when more and more people start to gather with the bride and groom. I can say one of the amazing things about working with Rabbi Linda is that she makes you (and your family and friends present) feel extremely comfortable with her - which was pretty notable considering we had only met her just a few times. Rabbi Linda was wonderful. She officiated a memorable ceremony and we are very happy she was able to be a part of our special day.

f the whole day. She really made sure to get to know us through multiple pre-wedding meetings, and visiting her house to chat with her was one of the most fun parts of the wedding planning process. Many of our guests assumed she was a family rabbi that had known us our whole lives given how personal her speech was. She also worked with us to personalize every element of the ceremony to make sure it was exactly what we wanted. We had an interfaith wedding and wanted a rabbi to officiate but didn't want it to be too religious. For each tradition, she told us the traditional way, a nontraditional way, or said we could scrap it entirely. We ended up keeping more traditions than we expected because her creative adaptations were so beautiful. One of the most emotional parts of the whole day was having our family members give us the Seven Blessings, which was one of her ideas. Many said it was the best ceremony they had ever been to. The Catholic side of the family, most of whom had never been to a Jewish wedding, said they were tempted to convert based on Rabbi Linda's ceremony alone. She even had her husband record the ceremony on his phone when she learned we didn't have a videographer! We cannot thank her enough for making our wedding the most special day of our lives.

us and to our families. No detail was too small or unimportant. She has a great sense of humor and was incredibly kind and patient throughout the entire process. Thank you, Rabbi Linda, for making our wedding day so special!

ed my upbringing, but was also very simple and personal. Believe it or not, in 2019 America, I found it so difficult to find a Rabbi who would marry us as an "interfaith" couple even though I am not religious and neither is my husband. From our first phone call, Rabbi Linda made us feel so comfortable and excited to be getting married. She is a great listener, is extremely organized and pays so much attention to every family/ceremony detail. She helped answer every single one of our questions, religious or otherwise, and was available every time we needed her. Our ceremony perfectly captured our simple style, and yet was so tasteful which she made it her very own way custom to us. She was especially helpful in finding ways to include my in-laws and my husband's brothers in our ceremony so that everyone felt included. She proof-read our program and helped us pick a Ketubah that was just what we were looking for. I HIGHLY recommend Rabbi Linda. She is ALWAYS smiling and upbeat as well as willing to meet with us every time we needed to. I look forward to using her in the future when our children are born someday! Thank you, Rabbi!

anyone else to perform such an important and personal moment in our lives!

sible for our non-Jewish guests with lots of meaningful and personal touches. Not only did we love it, our guests all raved about it the entire night! Some even said it was the best ceremony they’d ever seen. The entire process was great - Linda is accommodating, extremely kind, caring, professional, and she also has a great sense of humor :). It was everything we could have hoped for and more!

met Rabbi Linda shortly before we started wedding planning, I'd felt as if I had known her for years as she was so friendly and genuine. Rabbi Linda and her husband Michael made my wife and I feel like a part of the family. She was extremely organized and flexible and as a result, the wedding ceremony was flawless. I am extremely grateful that she was able to celebrate an important life event with us.

ules, whether it was an early morning or late night FaceTime call - she really got to know us! Throughout the cocktail hour, our guests were asking how we found Rabbi Linda and how beautiful the ceremony was. Even some of our non-Jewish friends commented about how interesting and inclusive the ceremony was. We wanted short, meaningful and sweet and that is exactly what we received. We cannot say enough great words!!

incorporate aspects of both our backgrounds. She was patient, kind, caring, and professional. I could not recommend her enough for your special day.

I sense that her work is a labor of love. Because my son and his wife live and have traveled abroad, we had a guest from Sweden. Whereas Swedish ceremonies are secular/Christian, he found this wedding ceremony to be very special and sought me out to tell me so. In other words, Rabbi Linda reaches all faiths in her service while maintaining the true essence of a Jewish wedding. My 93 year old mother was thrilled. Thank you Rabbi Linda for putting your heart and sould into the wedding.

the elements of the ceremony and meanings behind it. Being an interfaith couple and a second marriage for both of us, Rabbi Linda created a nice balance we were looking for but kept the meaning and tone of a Jewish ceremony we wanted. She took the time to get to know us, how we met, what was important to us, was sensitive to both sides of the family and children, and gave us many ideas and options on our nuptials and the flow of the ceremony. She welcomed us into her home and we really felt like family. We adore Rabbi Linda and were so happy she officiated one of the most important days of our lives.