Diana Brement, Jewish Sound Correspondent
Hometown: Eugene, Ore.
Favorite book: “I pretty much inhale books — I can’t name a favorite.”
Favorite Jewish historical figure: Rabbi Israel Salanter
Hidden talent: Able to identify individual breeds in mixed-breed dogs. “It is a gift.”
Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg used one leadership transition to create a career shift of her own — she chose to leave the associate rabbi position she’d held for 11 years at Temple B’nai Torah in Bellevue when senior rabbi Jim Mirel retired from there this June.
Kinberg will become the rabbi of Congregation Kol Ami in Woodinville this fall.
“I wanted to try something different,” she said. Already acquainted with the congregation through the annual Reform community’s family Camp Kesher, “I was just thrilled to help a congregation close by.”
Kinberg believes the congregation reflects her own eclectic background and her love of music. “It’s a really good fit for me,” she said. “They’re also really interested in exploring what Jewish community is.”
“We are very excited to have Rabbi Kinberg,” said Kol Ami’s newly elected president, Donna Lurie. Kinberg comes with experience and “knowledge about all aspects of congregational life, and we hope to tap into that expertise and be able to grow and thrive as a congregation.”
Kinberg lives in Olympia with her husband, Rabbi Seth Goldstein of Temple Beth Hatfiloh, and their two sons. “I spend a lot of time in my car,” she said. Her new job is just a couple of freeway stops north of where she used to exit I-405.
Closer to Redmond than Woodinville, Kol Ami shares a building with Bear Creek United Methodist Church and features a worship space “designed to be both a sanctuary and a church.” Kinberg notes that there’s a competition in Germany now to design a multi-faith space, but “at Kol Ami, this has been going on for a while.” Tapestries on pulleys are lowered to cover the cross on the wall, the ark is on rollers, and there are Jewish symbols on the doors. (See photos at www.kolaminw.org.)
“There’s nothing about the room that doesn’t say ‘Jewish’ once you’ve moved everything around, which takes about five minutes,” she said. Plus, “a huge parking lot,” accommodates High Holiday attendance.
The half-time position lets Kinberg, 41, resume or start a number of community projects. This summer she’s the camp rabbi at Camp Solomon Schechter, a stone’s throw from her home, and she’s started blogging again at www.freerangerabbi.blogspot.com. Look for her class on “parenting and parsha” to be taught in the community this fall. She’s also hoping Kol Ami can sponsor some classes on holidays and food at a local food market.
Community-based learning lets “all the Jews who are living up here know that we’re here and ready to be a center for Jewish life on the northern Eastside.”
Kinberg wants to help Kol Ami become a place that provides “everything people need for their Jewish life” while keeping the congregation a manageable size. Right now it serves about 90 families with weekly Friday night services and Sunday afternoon religion school. “No one has to get up early,” she says.
Another of Kinberg’s visions is to “help Kol Ami become a place where we nurture ahavat Yisroel [love of Israel] in the community.”
Kinberg is the daughter of a Moroccan-Israeli mother who immigrated to Israel as a teen, and Kinberg retains strong ties to that country. Her parents met in Israel when her Ashkenazi father came to study Hebrew before starting rabbinical school. Rabbi Myron Kinberg served the Jewish community of Eugene, Ore. for many years.
Kinberg will be installed on Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. Speakers will include Rabbi Jim Mirel, Peg Elefant, regional Hadassah president, and Rev. Vincent Lachina of Planned Parenthood Northwest.