Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann founded Mishkan Chicago in 2011 as a young rabbi, with the goal of leading people toward greater purpose, connection and inspiration through dynamic experiences of Jewish prayer, learning and community building. Rabbi Lizzi was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, and graduated with Honors in Religious Studies and Philosophy from Stanford University. Lizzi was ordained by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies as a Conservative Rabbi, though now is unaffiliated as she proudly officiates at interfaith weddings. She has sat on the boards or cabinets of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, JStreet, and Avodah, and was an ROI and Schusterman Fellow. Rabbi Lizzi was the first rabbinic fellow at IKAR in Los Angeles and is one of the founding rabbis of the Jewish Emergent Network, a network of 7 national path breaking communities reimagining Judaism for the next generation. She is one of a dozen people married to someone they met at Mishkan, and Lizzi and Henry’s children are growing up in a community where Judaism pulsates with joy, harmony, justice and love. Lizzi is honored to sit on the J Street Clergy Executive Committee of the Rabbinic and Cantorial Cabinet.

Rabbi Bellows wrote the popular feature column, “Reform, Really,” on The Jewish Week’s website, was a recurring guest on The Jewish Channel’s “Rabbis Roundtable” television program, and was named one of the top “Jews on Twitter” by The Huffington Post, as well as one of the “15 Rabbis You Should Follow on Twitter Who Will Change the Way You Think about Rabbis.” She was also awarded a place in the 2020-2021 Rabbi Balfour Brickner Clergy Seminar and Fellowship through the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. In addition, she has been invited to lead and teach a variety of topics in a number of settings, including WRJ Assemblies, URJ Biennials, URJ Regional Biennials, and the URJ Adult Learning Retreat. She had led workshops on Guided Jewish Meditation, Israeli Women Poets, Midrash, and Using Social Media in Synagogue Life. She has also studied voice and theatre for many years, and is graduate of the People’s Improvisation Theater program.

Rabbi Bellows lives in Chester with her husband, Seth Lindenman, her son, Spencer, and their four cats.