Temple Beth Ora welcomes Rabbi Kate Speizer

As Temple Beth Ora celebrates its 36^th anniversary year, they are delighted to welcome Rabbi Kate Speizer, who will serve as their High Holy Day Rabbi and, if mutually agreeable, as visiting Rabbi for the coming year.

Rabbi Speizer is passionate about Jewish education and engagement in both her professional and personal life. Whether leading tots and their families in Shabbat celebrations, visiting with someone in the hospital, or “praying with her feet” through social justice actions, Jewish values are the anchor within the work Rabbi Speizer pursues as a teacher, parent, partner, and friend.

Rabbi Speizer was born and raised in Northern California. At the age of 16 she first felt a call to the rabbinate. It came at the end of a Hebrew Union College seminar for high school leaders. She did not respond to that calling immediately, but during her high school and college years, she pursued her passion for Jewish learning by volunteering in the Jewish community as a lay leader.

After earning a degree in marketing and working in the electronics industry, Rabbi Speizer says she realized “that the time spent on a Sunday morning teaching Jewish values through creative text study meant a good deal more than selling semiconductors.” When “the call to the rabbinate rang again,” she adds, “this time, I was ready to answer.”

Rabbi Speizer completed her ordination through Hebrew Union College in May 2008. She served as Campus Rabbi at Cornell University for five years.  During her time there, student participation was extremely high, with almost 2000. students active annually.

In 2013, Rabbi Speizer and her husband, Ilan, moved to Seattle, Washington, with their children, Yoni (now seven) and Shira (now five). She currently enriches Seattle’s Jewish community through her work with The Kavana Cooperative, Seattle Jewish Community School and Temple de Hirsch Sinai.

Rabbi Speizer strives to “make Judaism relevant and accessible to all who are interested in exploring how it relates to their lives.

“One of the most meaningful aspects of my career is to connect people with their identity and Jewish community,” she says. “It is the engagement with individuals on their Jewish journey that brings me joy and the deepest satisfaction in my work.”

Temple Beth Ora and Beth Shalom Congregation have collaborated to provide Or Shalom Beit Sefer, weekly Jewish and Hebrew lessons to support Jewish learning in the Edmonton Jewish community.  They have a number of positions open for instructors as seen below: