Rabba Rachel Kohl Finegold
Core Semikha, Class of 2013
Rabba Rachel Kohl Finegold is the Director of Education and Spiritual Enrichment at Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Montreal, one of Canada’s largest synagogues. The first Orthodox woman to serve as synagogue clergy in Canada, Rachel has been the driving force behind many new initiatives to engage young families in synagogue life, and has spearheaded new offerings for young professionals in their 20s and 30s.
She previously served as a member of the clergy of Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel Congregation in Chicago, is a graduate of the Drisha Scholars Circle in New York, and received her B.A. in Religion from Boston University. Rachel participated in the Clergy Leadership Incubator (CLI), a two-year fellowship to help rabbis become transformative change agents in the communities that they serve. Rachel is a board member of BJEC (Bronfman Jewish Education Centre) and serves on the editorial board of the JOFA Journal. In 2018, she received the Brenda and Samuel Gewurz Award for Jewish Educational Leadership. Rachel lives in Montreal with her husband, Rabbi Avi Finegold, and their three daughters.