Rabbi Akiva Herzfeld graduated from Yeshiva University in 2000 with a major in classics and a minor in English. He received an M.A. in Jewish History from Columbia University in 2002 and ordination in 2007  from YCT Rabbinical School, the Open Orthodox Yeshiva. Rabbi Herzfeld is an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship and he has studied at schools around the world including Yeshivat Hamivtar in Efrat, Israel, the Goethe Institute in Berlin, Germany and the American Language Institute in Fez, Morocco. He became the rabbi of Shaarey Tphiloh in 2007 and served in that role until he and his family made Aliyah in 2014.

Rabbi Akiva Herzfeld has graciously agreed to lead our congregation with regular online classes and occasional in-person services for holidays and special occasions.

We thank him for his years of service and are happy they have been able to build a new life in Israel.  

Here is an update on the advocacy Rabbi Herzfeld has been doing.

Rabbi Josh Pernick led our congregation ably and with excellent teaching and personal connections with the community as a rabbinic student from YCT for many years and was the rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in the Greater New Orleans area.  He is now the Rabbi in Residence and JCRC Director at the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven. We thank him for his many years of learning, community building and Torah.  We wish him well in all his future endeavors. 

Rabbi Aaron Shub stepped down as of August 2021 following 3 years as our rabbi to pursue graduate studies in clinical counseling. We thank him for his guidance and teaching and wish him well in his future endeavors.