Meet Rabbi Joseph

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To the members and friends of the Kerhonkson Synagogue…

 

It is with great optimism and excitement that I look forward to my first visit to Kerhonkson as your new rabbi on July 10-11, 2026. I look forward to experiencing and contributing to the spirit I have felt in all my contacts with the congregation so far, and which I experienced virtually, through Zoom, during the B’nai mitzvah and Rabbi Sally’s farewell service on June 13. I look forward to earning your trust as a teacher and counselor. I look forward to learning your names and your stories, to learning with you, praying with you, celebrating and mourning with you. Throughout my rabbinic career, it has been my deepest honor to stand with people through thick and thin: through their troubles, through my troubles, through every kind of trial and every kind of celebration.

 

It has always been a point of pride for me to keep my focus on service to the people in front of me, young and old, rich and poor, learned or just starting to learn, members or not-yet-members. You can count on me as your rabbi to become absorbed in service to you and to your congregation’s individual members and friends. And by the way, all of this goes for my wife, Debbie, too! We both look forward to seeing you soon.

 

Thank you,

 

Rabbi Michael Joseph