In many ways, the story of Uri Barnea— conductor, composer, and rabbi—is a classic tale of Jewish migration and reinvention. Born and raised in the fledgling State of Israel to parents who were Holocaust survivors, he went on to pursue a career that led him to towns in America, where he was possibly the most identifiably Jewish person to ever visit. What sets his story apart is that even after achieving a splendid career in multiple disciplines, rather than return to Israel, he insists that Billings, Montana is home.
After peeling away the layers of this man's curious yet impressive life, I was able to understand how this came to be. Let us start from the beginning.
From a young age, Uri showed a keen interest in music and Judaism. After completing his military service in the IDF, he pursued a BA from the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem, while enrolling at Hebrew University for a minor in Biblical and Jewish Studies.
He drew the attention of Kol Yisrael, Israel’s radio and television broadcast service, and was selected to sing with their professional choir. Choosing to expand his horizons, he accepted an invitation to serve as Music Director of the Jewish Community Center in Minneapolis while earning his M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, majoring in conducting and composition while minoring in Middle Eastern studies.
This is where things get interesting. His next position was in Galesburg, Illinois, a three and a half-hour drive from Chicago, where he served as Assistant Professor at Knox College and Music Director of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony. He then accepted a position in Billings, Montana, in 1984, where he was Music Director of the Billings Symphony and the Montana Ballet. This is where Uri started a family and joined the local Jewish community.
During this period, in the 80’s and 90’s, the Pacific-Northwest was a hotbed for white nationalist and Neo-Nazi groups. Uri quickly became a target because his obviously Jewish name was publicly visible on the playbill of the Montana Symphony in Billings. He started to receive threatening calls and messages. He wasn’t the only one. People in Black and Native American communities were receiving similar threats.
Uri Barnea with rabbinical student Leibel Kaplan in the summer of 2017
One morning, Uri walked outside to pick up his newspaper and noticed a note slipped under the rubber band. It was from the KKK. This was the first time he was targeted at home.
Then, one night, Uri and his wife went to the symphony, leaving their three-year-old son at home with a babysitter. When they came back, they found a window smashed through On Being Human with a beer bottle. A few days later, a brick was thrown through the window of the Schnitzer’s, a local Jewish family’s home on Chanukah.
Publicity about these hate crimes was starting to build. One small-business owner put a sign up on the window of his storefront with the words, "Not in Our Town" displayed in big letters, which inspired a citywide campaign and a made-for-TV documentary by that name. The local paper printed a full page image of a Menorah for thousands of residents to print and paste proudly on their windows in solidarity with the Jewish community.
"If a Jew left every time after we were attacked, where would we go? Leaving is not the answer."
Uri feels that staying in Billings is the only answer to this kind of hate: "If a Jew left every time after we were attacked, where would we go? Leaving is not the answer."
After retiring from a successful career in music in 2004, he pursued a rabbinic degree from Hebrew Union College for Reform Judaism in Cincinnati, Ohio. Today, he belongs to Congregation Beth Aaron, where he is the cantor and officiates life cycle events and offers Torah classes.
From his earliest days in Billings, he remembers receiving visits from Chabad students. One of those students turned out to be Rabbi Chaim Bruk, who later came back to establish the permanent home of Chabad Lubavitch in Montana. Uri enjoys the rabbi's weekly newsletter full of insights that he agrees and disagrees with, which is what he appreciates about it. He also meets regularly with rabbi shaul and Mushky Shkedi, who operate the local Chabad House Established in Billings. He says Chabad never demands anything. They ask if I want to put on tefillin. Of course, I say yes, and then we ahve a discussion. In 2021, he donated almost 130 books to the new Jewish center that Chabad opened in Bozeman.
Uri Barnea speaking at Chabad of Billings public Menorah lighting
For Uri, the pleasure of the Jewish experience is in the diversity of views and opinions. He says Chabad helps foster the Jewish ecosystem that he misses from Israel. "It’s very hard to be a Jew just by yourself. We are a community, like a minyan."
I asked him what he loves most about living out West. He says, "It’s the open spaces, access to nature, the snow, the mountains, the easy slow pace of life." What he misses the most about Israel is walking along the shuk and haggling for the freshest produce. Here in the United States, he says, it’s just not the same.
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