Temple Kol Emeth, a Reform synagogue in East Cobb, announced Monday that Rabbi Lawrence “Larry” Sernovitz has been chosen to succeed the retiring Rabbi Steven Lebow, effective July 1.
Sernovitz comes from Cherry Hill, N.J., where he was the founding rabbi of Nafshenu, an egalitarian Jewish community catering to non-affiliated Jews. He also was a chaplain for the Cherry Hill Police Department.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Rabbi Sernovitz to lead the next chapter of Temple Kol Emeth’s rich history,” Rachel Barich, President of the Board of Trustees for the synagogue, said in a statement.
Lebow, who became Kol Emeth’s first full-time rabbi in 1986, announced his retirement last fall. In November, he presided over his final Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service, which he began as an interfaith community effort in the wake of 9/11.
Lebow also has been active in continuing efforts to exonerate Leo Frank, a Jewish pencil factory manager in Atlanta who was lynched in Marietta in 1915.
“Temple Kol Emeth is an important part of the East Cobb community,” Sernovitz in a statement issued by the synagogue. “Rabbi Lebow has built an inclusive Jewish community that truly stands for something, and I’m eager to help existing members and new unaffiliated families find spirituality, connect and help to repair the world.”
Lebow’s community activities included protesting against an anti-gay resolution by the Cobb Board of Commissioners in 1993. He was honored for his community service and social change efforts by the Cobb Citizens Coalition, Creative Loafing magazine, the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the State of Georgia Holocaust Commission.
Sernovitz has been named a recipient of the Camden County MLK Freedom Medal for his efforts to bring South Jersey communities together following the fatal shootings at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018.
Lebow will become the Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Kol Emeth, conducting occasional sermons at the synagogue. He also plans to continue service through teaching, writing and lending his rabbinic expertise to smaller regional congregations.
Kol Emeth will have a farewell celebration for Lebow in April.
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