The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah has chosen Rabbi Sarah Smiley as its new assistant rabbi. She will join the professional staff on July 1, and replaces Rabbi Daniel Kirzane, who announced in October he would be leaving B’nai Jehudah and moving to Chicago when his contract expires in June.
Rabbi Smiley is an experienced rabbi who has spent the last seven years serving Temple Emanu-El in Westfield, N.J., most recently as associate rabbi.
“Rabbi Smiley is passionate about youth engagement and creative Jewish education for all ages,” said B’nai Jehudah’s Senior Rabbi Arthur Nemitoff. “Rabbi Smiley looks forward to joining our congregation that shares her vision for inclusion and helping create a Jewish environment where everyone feels welcome.”
Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Rabbi Smiley told B’nai Jehudah’s Rabbinic Search Advisory Task Force she is excited to for the opportunity.
“I am excited to move back to the Midwest and have the opportunity to serve a Jewish community that cares about each individual person and their personal Jewish identity,” she said.
Rabbi Smiley graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Jewish studies and religious studies, and minors in history and Hebrew. While at Indiana University in Bloomington, she served as a resident adviser at the NFTY biennial conventions in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. Rabbi Smiley also worked for six summers as a staff member at Goldman Union Camp Institute, a URJ-sponsored camp in Zionsville, Indiana, where many local Reform teens go to camp every summer.
Following her first year of rabbinical studies at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Israel, she moved to Cincinnati and began teaching Sunday and Hebrew school at both Wise Temple and Valley Temple. Rabbi Smiley also served as one of the rabbinic interns for the HUC youth programs department. She acted as student rabbi at Temple B’nai Israel in Panama City, Florida, for two years, at Temple B’nai Abraham in Portsmouth, Ohio, for one year and at Oheb Shalom in Sandusky, Ohio, for one year.
Rabbi Smiley received her Master of Arts degree in Hebrew letters in 2009 from the Cincinnati campus of HUC-JIR and was subsequently ordained there in 2010. During her time at HUC-JIR, she was the recipient of the Cora Kahn prize for best sermon delivery and oratory. For one year, she held the position of director of religious life at The Ohio State University Hillel Foundation in Columbus, Ohio, during the 2010-2011 school year.
Rabbi Nemitoff added that Rabbi Smiley looks forward to continuing her love of sharing a message and teaching through sermon delivery and service leading. Rabbi Smiley will be moving here along with her husband, Rabbi Josh Leighton, and their daughter, Eliana.
