Question: What do you call a 6-foot-4-inch lanky, red-headed Jewish man from Virginia?
Answer: The newest rabbi at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah.
The congregation just announced that Rabbi Daniel Kirzane will be joining B’nai Jehudah as one of its rabbis, beginning July 1. Rabbi Kirzane will be replacing Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner, who is leaving after seven years to become senior rabbi of Temple Beth Tikvah, in Roswell, Georgia.
In welcoming Rabbi Kirzane, Senior Rabbi Arthur Nemitoff said, “B’nai Jehudah has been blessed with extraordinary rabbis, who have served the congregation during its 145-year history. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}Rabbi Kirzane carries on that tradition, with a commitment to Jewish learning, spirituality and social justice. We know the congregation and community will be well served with Rabbi Kirzane joining our professional team. We look forward to the coming years of his rabbinical leadership.”
Dan Stolper, the congregation’s president, observed, “I warmly welcome Rabbi Kirzane and his family to B’nai Jehudah and Kansas City. He brings a love of Torah and the Jewish people and a great sense of humor. I also am impressed by his selection as a Wexner Graduate Fellow, a highly selective program for Jewish professionals. I thank our congregants who served on the rabbinic search advisory task force, which was chaired by Lisa Schifman.”
Rabbi Daniel Kirzane was ordained from Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (New York campus) in May 2014. He spent the past year as assistant rabbi to Congregation Beth Haverim Shir Shalom, in Mahwah, New Jersey. During this one-year appointment, Rabbi Kirzane served the congregation full-time while its senior rabbi, Joel Mosbacher, dedicated a year coordinating a national gun violence prevention campaign.
Kirzane is indeed 6 feet 4 inches tall and was raised in a small congregation in Roanoke, Virginia. As he grew up, he found that his Jewish activities nourished him. That love of all things Jewish led to his eventual choice of the rabbinate.
After high school, he attended University of Virginia (Charlottesville) as an Echols Scholar where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Jewish studies and religious studies, with highest distinction. He wrote an honors thesis entitled, “Playing the Serpent: A Study of the Role of Drama in Jewish-Christian Religious Dialogue.” While at the university, he served as president of Hillel and met his wife, Jessica. She is currently working toward a doctorate in Yiddish studies from Columbia University.
Immediately following graduation from college and prior to rabbinical school, he worked for a year with AmeriCorps in Washington, D.C., teaching an HIV/AIDS prevention curriculum in public schools and helping to run large-scale service events.
During his studies at HUC-JIR, Rabbi Kirzane served congregations in North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Quebec. For two years, he served as the student coordinator of HUC-JIR’s New York Campus Soup Kitchen, serving hot meals 52 weeks a year to hundreds of homeless and hungry in the school’s lounge area. In addition, he was a member of the American Jewish World Service Rabbinical Student Delegation to El Salvador in January 2012, studying a rights-based approach to global poverty; was a Reform Clergy Fellow for Columbia/Barnard Hillel; served on the North American Staff of URJ Kesher/Birthright Israel; and was the student life coordinator for the Prozdor High School at the Jewish Theological Seminary. In addition to his rabbinic ordination, Rabbi Kirzane received a master’s degree in Hebrew letters (2013), a master’s degree in religious education (2012), and wrote his rabbinical thesis on “Making Magic: Ritual in Reform Jewish Education.”
Rabbi Kirzane was recognized by HUC-JIR for his scholarship and commitment to social justice issues through numerous fellowships, including T’ruah Rabbinical Student Fellowship in Human Rights, Tikvah Seminar on Jews and the American Ethos, CLAL: Rabbis Without Borders Rabbinical Student Fellowship, and Wexner Graduate Fellowship. Among his rabbinical school awards and prizes are Rabbi Samuel J. Levinson Prize for Interest and Achievement in Religion and Humanities, Rabbi Bernard M. Cohen Award for Ecumenical Studies, Anselm Rothschild Memorial Prize in Talmud, Martin Berman Memorial Prize for Proficiency in Philosophy, Rabbi Malcolm Stern Memorial Prize for Contributing to the Campus, and Herman Snyder Alumni Prize for Academic Excellence.
Rabbi Kirzane and Jessica will move to our community with their 1-year-old son, Jeremiah.{/mprestriction}
