Rabbi Sydney Mintz launched the non-profit 13th Tribe in 2020.

She has served as the Rabbi of the historic Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco for the past 25 years.

Mintz received her degree in English and graduated Cum Laude from University of Wisconsin-Madison. She attended Oxford University in the U.K where she received her certificate in Judaic Studies. Rabbi Mintz received a Master’s Degree in Hebrew Letters in 1995 and Rabbinical Ordination in 1997 from Hebrew Union College in New York City. Mintz was a Senior Rabbinic Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem in 2004.

In 2022, Rabbi Mintz was awarded her honorary Doctorate of Divinity degree by the Hebrew Union College. 

As a Performer/Writer, Rabbi Mintz’s one woman show “You May Think I’m Funny, But It’s Not” premiered and sold out at the Marsh Theatre in San Francisco. The show paused during Covid and is now getting ready to hit the road again. She is currently working on her Instagram show “2 Jewish Mom’s Shoot the $#!+”, The Jewish Names Project and The Floating Sukkah on the Bay.  

As a spiritual leader and activist Rabbi Mintz has served on the national Board of Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, Rabbinic scholar for American Jewish World Service, Advisory Board of The Reimagine End of Life Festival and is the founder of the award winning Late Shabbat Young Adult Program at Congregation Emanu-El. Musical and uplifting, this creative and innovative program at Temple Emanu-El has engaged thousands of young adults as they rediscover and redefine Judaism on their own terms.

Rabbi Mintz is the co-creator of the Book of Life Project with Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz and Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback, which connects people internationally with ancient and cutting edge Jewish wisdom to enable us to write our own Books of Life.  These topics and many more have been explored in conversation with Dr. Larry Brilliant, Authors Anne Lamott and Noa Tishby, Producers and Journalists Juju Chang and Neal Shapiro.  Rabbi Mintz has also interviewed  Dr. Richard Miller, author of Psychedelic Medicine, author and journalist Reza Aslan and author Bari Weiss.  

She is currently working on projects in the areas of jewish spirituality, film and performance.