Excitement at Temple Kol Emeth: A Conversation with Rabbi Ashley Englander

Interviewer: Today, I am speaking with Rabbi Ashley Englander, the new Rabbi Educator at Temple Kol Emeth, which has been a hub of Jewish life in Cobb County for over four decades. Rabbi Englander, thank you for joining me today!

Rabbi Englander: Thank you, I’m thrilled to be here.

Interviewer: Rabbi Englander, you’ve mentioned that you see TKE as a community that wants to make connections, that wants to build and create relationships between one another. What does that mean to you?

Rabbi Englander: I believe that Judaism offers a way to understand our millennia of tradition as something that is both relevant and something that is continually changing. At TKE, I’ve seen a community of doers, a congregation that takes our communal aspirations to be caring, empowering and joyful, and applies them in many settings, both within TKE and in the wider community. I’m excited to work with Rabbi Chase Foster, TKE’s Senior Rabbi, to strengthen the congregation’s mastery of these values and to see them as part of the ongoing lived experience of being at TKE.

Interviewer: As you join this clergy team, I know that your portfolio includes guiding the education programs, including the Religious School and B Mitzvah programs. How would you describe your goal for Jewish education at TKE?

Rabbi Englander: My first goal for all my students, of any age, is for them take pride in their Jewish identity. Students need a strong base in our texts, our traditions and our history. But I also want them to see how what they are learning, how their Jewish identity, connects them to the wider world. I want them to find community in their Religious School classmates and friendships with their Israel siblings. I want them to see themselves in the Jewish heroes we learn about and in the Cobb County first responders we all rely on. I want them to find a love for our own traditions and a respect for how our neighbors of other faiths practice theirs.

Interviewer: What excites you most about the future of Temple Kol Emeth?

Rabbi Englander: The energy and enthusiasm I’ve seen since joining TKE are inspiring. As a bulwark against many of society’s greatest challenges, I want all of us to have pride in ourselves, in our Jewish identity, and in knowing that we have a tradition that supports us in making our world a better place. There is no better place to explore that for yourself than in the caring community of Temple Kol Emeth.