Temple Israel is delighted to share that we are growing our clergy team with the addition of Associate Rabbi Leah Sternberg.
Rabbi Sternberg, her husband Jordan Vaughter, and their three-month-old daughter Renni will join us in Memphis this summer from Short Hills, New Jersey, where Rabbi Sternberg has served URJ Temple B’nai Jeshurun for six years.
Rabbi Sternberg was born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit, where she developed a deep passion for the Jewish community. She received her B.A. in History and Jewish Studies from the University of Michigan in 2014, and was ordained at Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion’s Los Angeles Campus in May 2019, where she received her Masters in Hebrew Letters in 2017 along with a certificate in Jewish Nonprofit Management from the Zelikow School at HUC-JIR in 2018.
While at HUC-JIR she had a diversity of experiences: serving congregations as a Rabbinic Intern from Colorado to Santa Barbara, California, as a Chaplain Intern at the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging, and as the Rabbinic Intern for the Southern California region of the Reform Movement’s Youth Program (NFTY). During her time in Los Angeles, she worked as the manager of Jewish Engagement and Advocacy for the Jewish Center for Justice. Since ordination, Rabbi Sternberg has served as an Associate Rabbi at Temple B’nai Jeshurun in Short Hills, NJ, with a focus on strategic congregational engagement, deepening social justice and tikkun olam experiences for the community, as well as ongoing pastoral and pulpit responsibilities.
She is a member of the Core Team of RAC-NJ and a board member of the Jewish Center for Justice. Additionally, she participated in the Israel Policy Forum’s Bronfman Conveners program and Jewish think tank CLAL’s START program in spiritual entrepreneurship. Rabbi Sternberg works each day to help members of the community create authentic connection with one another and with Judaism—from our youngest early childhood learners to the most seasoned of members. She is passionate about advancing Jewish life through innovation and justice, using tradition as a tool to navigate our ever-evolving and ever-challenging modern world.
As we continue to meet our congregation’s needs and are always in pursuit of top talent nationally, we are thrilled that Rabbi Sternberg will call Memphis and Temple Israel her home.