Testimonials

Welcome to my Testimonials page. Here you can read comments from some of my wedding couples. I’d be delighted to hear from you and receive feedback. – With gratitude, Rabbi Spike.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO ADD YOUR TESTIMONIAL:
(36)
(21) Daphne & Sam Sani
Mon, 16 June 2014

Working with Rabbi Spike Anderson was truly a pleasure! My husband and I felt connected with him after our initial meeting. Rabbi Anderson made us feel welcomed and safe to discuss our religious practices and beliefs. We never felt judged for our practice of the Jewish faith, which meant a great deal to us.

Rabbi Anderson was a positive energy to our engagement process and a helpful person to turn to for advice. The meetings prior to the wedding helped us learn more about one another as we prepped with the "homework" assignments.

June 7th, 2014 will forever be a date to remember as Rabbi Anderson conducted a perfectly beautiful wedding ceremony. Rabbi Anderson made the ceremony intimate and special by making it about me and my husband. After our last session with Rabbi Anderson we were sad to have it end, we agreed to continue to see him as he has been such a great influence in our relationship. Rabbi Anderson is so caring and passionate about what he does it is admirable. We are so grateful to have worked with him!



(20) Kevin and Nicole
Wed, 4 June 2014

We were married by Rabbi Spike and it could not have been a better experience. What we knew was that we wanted to get married, but not exactly how. Our meetings with Rabbi Spike, to figure out these details, became special in and of themselves. Not only did Rabbi Spike get to know us, which made the day that much more personal and meaningful, but our meetings with him and his “homework assignments” also brought us that much closer as a couple. Rabbi Spike did a great job of teaching us about the various traditions and was flexible and gentle in guiding us toward creating a ceremony we were both excited about. He made fun what could be, and is, a serious moment. So many of our friends and family members have gone out of their way to tell us what a beautiful ceremony they thought it was - as did we. Our wedding day was amazing and what is just as important is that Rabbi Spike helped us make it as much about the marriage as the wedding.

(19) Alyson Stack Albano
Wed, 4 June 2014

I am so pleased that we chose Rabbi Spike to do our ceremony. From the moment my husband and I met him, we felt comfortable and excited about having a Jewish ceremony. Rabbi Spike made meaning of rituals and linked our story to that of the Torah. Rabbi Spike was personable, warm and inspirational. I am a Marriage Family Therapist and I was so impressed by how he counseled my husband and I. It allowed for my husband and I to grow together as we learned. I had a lot of questions about the ketuba and Rabbi Spike was always available to answer my questions. On the of our wedding, he arrived on time (early) and prepared. He incorporated all of our homework assignments into the ceremony and several people approached us telling us how personal the ceremony was. I felt grateful that we found Rabbi Spike and highly recommend him. My husband and I look forward to continuing our learning with him!

(18) Craig and Lital Hirsch
Wed, 4 June 2014

As one already knows, the time before one’s wedding can be pretty demanding, stressful, and time consuming. We are so grateful to have already known such a knowledgeable, wonderful, caring, respectable, kind, and compassionate Rabbi-Rabbi Spike Anderson, as he was very close to our family.

Rabbi Spike Anderson has been very close to our family for many years now. He has shared so many occasions with us, including both of Lital’s sister’s kids’ baby-naming ceremonies, and he has also prayed for our family at times of need for multiple occasions. We have become not only familiar with Rabbi Spike Anderson’s kindheartedness, but his willingness to help and be able to assist as much as he could in every aspect. We attend Friday night Shabbat services, just to hear Rabbi Spike Anderson speak, as we truly enjoy listening and learning from his wisdom.

We began going to him for various pre-wedding sessions, where Rabbi Spike Anderson helped us both understand each other better than we ever did. We talked about important aspects of our lives, our careers, our families, and about our views and desires for our future as husband and wife. We had funny and entertaining sessions, as well as informative and revealing sessions where we learned about Judaism and marriage, about various songs and rituals as we walked down the aisle and circled around each other. We also had several instructive and enlightening meetings, which were both helpful and very real which we had not thought about prior to our wedding. In addition, Rabbi Spike Anderson held our Aufruf, where we both recited over the Torah, the Shabbat before our wedding and our families all joined together on this special and memorable day.

We are so grateful to Rabbi Spike Anderson for all that he’s done for us. We are so delighted to have had Rabbi Spike Anderson officiate at our wedding. He made our wedding real, genuine, authentic, and really just incredibly fun! We are so thankful to you Rabbi- we couldn’t thank you enough!

Sincerely,

Craig and Lital Hirsch

(17) Carly and Louis Epstein
Fri, 27 December 2013

We couldn't be happier that Rabbi Anderson married us. When we began the search for a Rabbi to officiate our wedding, we just wanted a Rabbi who would allow us to call in for our pre-wedding sessions since we both lived in the Bay Area but were getting married in L.A.. That's how we ended up with Rabbi Anderson. But, a few sessions in, we couldn't be happier with how it turned out.


During the stress of wedding planning, Rabbi Anderson provided a safe space to communicate, constantly told us that how we cared about each other was beautiful, and suggest how we could work together to overcome whatever wedding planning obstacle happened to arise that week.


The day of the wedding, the Rabbi planned a beautiful ceremony. He took the words that we had written to each other and wove them into a beautiful story of our relationship. Often during our honeymoon, we would discuss how happy we were with the ceremony and the beautiful words that we had written to each other, the beauty of which were augmented by Rabbi Anderson's literary skill.


After the wedding, all of our friends commented how Rabbi Anderson made our ceremony so special and personal. In retrospect, that was exactly what we wanted, not just a Rabbi willing to tele-conference. We still communicate with Rabbi Anderson, especially when he calls to check up on us. We loved our wedding and the beauty of that day, and in part, we have Rabbi Anderson to thank for his support, the beautiful ceremony, and our beautiful ketubah.



(16) Amir and Naomi Give'on
Fri, 27 December 2013

Creating a wedding day that was not only filled with Jewish traditions, but personal for us in every possible way was the challenge we presented to Rabbi Spike at our first meeting a few months prior to our wedding. This challenge he not only met but exceeded. Rabbi Spike not only taught us what each Jewish tradition meant, but provided us a framework for understanding what a Jewish marriage means to us. He guided us through writing our own Ketubah, the stresses of wedding planning, and helped us to create a personal and unique wedding day. Rabbi Spike took the time and made the effort to get to know us as a couple and his conduct of our wedding service exceeded our wildest dreams of what our wedding ceremony could be. He infused tradition with us, our relationship and lives, and helped to make our day special not only for us, but for our family and friends as well. Rabbi Spike helped us to begin our married lives together in the most incredible way and we are looking forward to having him participate in many occasions to come.


(15) Ashley & Jordan Bravo
Wed, 13 November 2013

A friend, a sounding board for stressful moments, a supportive listener, and a Rabbi - Rabbi Spike seems to do it all! We are so fortunate to have met such a wonderful Rabbi and person to bring such love to our wedding ceremony. Thank you so much for working with us to create our dream wedding. You really did a wonderful job blending traditional elements with our contemporary asks to ensure that our wedding really represented the love, acceptance, and sense of community that we had hoped for. We are looking forward to sharing many more happy memories.

(14) Amy & Omry Maoz
Wed, 13 November 2013

Having Rabbi Spike guide us through the wedding process was a grounding and fun constant through the ups and downs of wedding planning. He kept us focused on each other, on the marriage part, not the "big day!" part, and asked us questions that made us think, talk, and connect in new ways. We were unsure of our footing when it came to the religious part of the ceremony but he kept an open mind and had a sense of humor when we unleashed our defense mechanism: Terrible jokes. (Did you know fiancee rhymes with Beyonce?) We looked forward to our pre-wedding phone sessions (we are based in NY) and one in-person meeting so much, and seeing him at the wedding felt natural and thrilling. The ceremony he conducted was personal, funny, beautiful, and paid tribute to our faith without letting it overshadow ourselves. Almost every report from our guests was the same: tears, smiles, and awe. Yes, we'll take some of the credit for being so lovable, but Rabbi Spike deserves much of the appreciation.
-Amy & Omry Maoz, married June 23, 2013

(13) Tina and Shervin
Fri, 1 November 2013

Finding a rabbi that we felt comfortable with for our wedding was extremely important to us. Before meeting with Rabbi Spike we had met with other Rabbi's but Spike was special. Weddings can be a nerve wrecking time but Spike made us feel at peace and was really there for us during the entire wedding process. We looked forward to our meetings with him as he always put a smile on our faces with his great sense of humor.

Thank you Rabbi Spike from the bottom of our hearts for being so amazing!

Sherv & Tina

(12) Heidi Marchette
Thu, 23 May 2013

Rabbi Spike did an amazing job with our wedding. Both my husband and I wanted to have a Jewish wedding, yet neither of us are to religious and we were fearful of what that would entail. We met with Rabbi Spike, discussed our concerns and wants and he custom built the ceromony of our dreams. It was warm, intimate, funny,personal and what every girl would want there wedding to be like. I highly recommend him.

(11) Jodie and Peter
Thu, 9 May 2013

It's difficult to find the right words to express how magical our wedding day was, and the special role that Rabbi Spike played in creating such a spiritual, warm and welcoming feeling for everyone involved. It really all starts with the relationship we were able to nurture with Rabbi Spike. We use the word "nurture" intentionally, as that is how we felt -- embraced in his compassion and genuine concern for us. Our connection with the Rabbi began early on, as Peter was preparing for his conversion. Rabbi Spike never went through the motions; instead, our journey became his, as we walked that path together, which was beautiful. All of our friends at the wedding reflected on the day in the same way -- there was just something special and "magical" about it. Rabbi Spike played a big role in that, making it personal, and reflecting on all that he had learned about us and from us. It is a day we will never, ever forget. Our journey with Rabbbi Spike is really just now beginning. We relish the future with the Rabbi by our side. Thanks you again, Rabbi.



(10) Joliene & Ron
Thu, 4 April 2013

Rabbi Spike married Ronny and I on September 3, 2011 at the Terranea Resort. It was one of the most magical, spiritual and memorable days of our lives. Rabbi Spike set the tone to our ceremony and we were so blessed to have him be a part of our day.

When we first met with him, we weren't sure what to expect. Was he going to interview us, preach to us, judge us if we didn't want our ceremony in a certain way? He was nothing but welcoming, calming, sweet and gentle. He really took the time to get to know each of us, find out what kind of wedding experience we wanted and teach us about important Jewish traditions along the way.

Ronny and I really looked forward to each meeting that we had with him, as well as the "homework" Rabbi Spike gave us. You learn so much about your partner and yourself during this time and I appreciated how Rabbi Spike led us through that process.

We were SO glad to have him as our Rabbi. The Ketubah signing was joyous & fun and the ceremony was the exact way I imagined it would be: joyous & humorous and yet moving and touching at the same time!

Rabbi Spike invests so much in each couple that he marries and I look forward to celebrating many more happy occasions with him in the future.

Thank you again, Rabbi!

Joliene & Ron Anavim

(9) Gena Bienstock
Thu, 4 April 2013

Rabbi Spike Anderson married my husband and I in August 2010. The phone discussions w Rabbi Anderson leading up to the wedding were conversations my husband and I looked forward to. Always great dialogue! I believe the discussions helped the open communication my husband and I find so important in our marriage today.

We had such a beautiful wedding. We couldn't thank Rabbi Anderson and Cantor Lam enough.

(8) Jeffrey & Michelle Herman
Sun, 16 September 2012

Dear Rabbi Spike Anderson and Stephen S. Wise Temple,

May 30th, 2009 was the most enchanting and memorable day of our lives thanks in part to you Rabbi Spike. Our guest raved how our wedding ceremony was not only beautiful but educational. Even our non-Jewish friends loved the way you explained each part of the ceremony, no one had a feeling that they were lost or did not understand what was happening.

Having met with you numerous times for months leading up to the wedding not only allowed us to get to know you better, but you also made us closer to each other. We both looked forward to the times we spent with you discussing family, beliefs, future plans, and life in general leading up to the wedding day.

We hope to include Rabbi Spike in all of our future events. Since our wedding day he has been with us for numerous other occasions from the Bris of our son, funerals, as well as more family weddings, and we hope he will continue to be a part of our lives. We would highly recommend him to any couple looking for the services of an incredible Rabbi.

Sincerely,
Jeffrey & Michelle Herman


(7) Ross Felix
Sun, 16 September 2012

My wife and I grew up with very different backgrounds from a religious perspective. I grew up Modern Orthodox, while my wife grew up Reform. We were very concerned that we would not be able to find a Rabbi who would be able to perform a ceremony that mixed in elements from both to make our families as comfortable as we could.
From the start, Rabbi Anderson was incredibly welcoming and eager to work with us. He proved to be incredibly knowledgeable on the traditions whether from a Reform, Conservative or Orthodox basis. He was able to guide us to make decisions that we were comfortable with by educating us on the various elements and how they were handled in each form of Judaism. We were incredibly pleased with the service he helped us develop.

That however is only part of why we think so highly about Rabbi Anderson. More than a few of our guests asked us how long we had known Rabbi Anderson. They felt that the way he spoke about us under the Chuppah that he had known us for years. We enjoyed the pre-wedding process, which was complicated by the fact that we were living in New York at the time. We had scheduled conference calls, emails and homework assignments. His handling of the process enabled him to learn a great deal about us, but also served to make sure that the bride and groom knew each other as well. We were a little bit confused initially by some of the assignments, but we trusted him, and when the reasons were revealed, it made all the sense in the world. Our final homework assignment was for us to write each other a love letter (that we weren't allowed to show to the other) that Rabbi Anderson told us that he'd hold onto for "some point" after the wedding. One day they showed up in the mail, and it was so fantastic to get them. It really made us even closer.

We are so grateful to Rabbi Anderson for all of his efforts. He was so genuine, warm, and caring, he made the whole process effortless, and did such an amazing job guiding the service. We can't thank him enough.


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