Our rabbi

Rabbi Jennifer

Since April 2002, Rabbi Jen has blessed Kehillah with her spirituality, warmth, and passion for Jewish learning. She welcomes everyone; encouraging diversity in age, faith, and lifestyle. Her calming, centered approach makes our services, holiday programs, and life cycle events both vital and relevant.

Passionate about social justice and building interfaith understanding, Rabbi Jen helped to found the broad-based coalition Justice United of Orange County, co-led our Torah-Koran study group, and serves on the Rabbinic Advisory Board of Carolina Jews for Justice.

Rabbi Jen and her family love exploring local hiking trails and making jam with figs from their front yard trees.

You can read and listen below for more inspiring words from our Rabbi.

To learn more about her sermons, click here.

Rabbi Jen shares words of reflection about finding the light out of darkness during Chanukah in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Congregants have joined together on zoom and outside our sanctuary to light the menorah this Chanukah.

Rabbi Jen was featured in the local newspaper commenting on how the novel Corona virus has impacted the community here at Kehillah. “The highest value in Judaism is preservation of life,” Rabbi said. “We have a tradition, ‘When you save a life, you save an entire world.’ We’re really sending a message that we’re still a community, even if we can’t physically meet together.” Click the image above to read the whole article. 

2020 MLK Citizenship Award

The Kehillah Synagogue is enormously proud of our Rabbi,  who was the 2020 recipient of the Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Citizenship Award, presented to an Orange County resident “in recognition of enduring service to humanity by word and by deed.” Rabbi Jen was selected because of her nearly 20 years of service to the Chapel Hill/Carrboro/ Orange County communities. The Award Committee recognizes that Rabbi Jen’s service embodies the same caring spirit and intent as that of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The award was given on January 19th at the 35th annual University/Community Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Banquet, co-hosted by the MLK University/Community Planning Corporation and UNC-CH’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. The Corporation has been in existence for 35 years. Proceeds from Banquet and Award Ceremony support a scholarship program for graduating seniors from Orange County high schools who are continuing their education.

Rabbi Jen pictured with Justice Cheri Beasley, the first African-American woman to serve as Chief Justice of the N.C. Supreme Court.

Rabbi Jen pictured on stage at the Friday Center with Dolores Bailey, the Executive Director of Empowerment, Inc.

2019 WCHL Champions of Civility Award and Radio Interview