ClergyandStaff

Rabbi Joseph W. Prass

Born in Minneapolis, MN, Rabbi Prass received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Minnesota and was ordained from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, OH in 1999.

Rabbi Prass joins Temple Emanu-El after serving Congregation Emanu El of Houston for eight years and then Temple Shalom of Milwaukee for four years.

He has served on the board of the Federation of Greater Houston, the Wisconsin Council of Rabbis, Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute Rabbinic Advisory Committee, the Milwaukee JCRC and other community organization. Rabbi Prass has served numerous summers on the Rabbinic Faculty at URJ summer camps. A former NFTY Regional director and assistant summer camp director, Rabbi Prass still finds time to learn and play with our children.

Rabbi Prass and his wife Leslie have three children: Hannah, Adam and Jenna.

Cantor Benjamin Adler

Cantor Benjamin Adler comes from a well known family of Cantors and is a sixth generation Cantor. He was born in Israel and emigrated to the United States at age nine. Cantor Adler grew up in the Detroit area and sang in a boys choir with his father, Cantor Mordechai Adler and cousin, Cantor Hyman J. Adler.

Cantor Adler conducted his first High Holiday services in B’nai David Congregation in Detroit at age seventeen. As a child he concertized and participated in many weddings in the Detroit area. He received his Jewish education at the Midrasha College of Jewish Studies in Detroit and also a Masters Degree in Music from Florida State University.

Cantor Adler, a lyric tenor, is currently the Cantor of Temple Emanuel in Dunwoody, Ga. Prior to that he was Cantor of Ahavath Achim Synagogue in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the largest conservative synagogues in the world. He has served pulpits in West Palm Beach, Florida, Willmette, Illinois (suburb of Chicago), and Miami. Before coming to Atlanta, he was Cantor and Education Director of Beth David Congregation, the oldest synagogue in Miami. He has performed in concerts of both Jewish and secular music and has performed leading roles in operas and musicals including “The Magic Flute”, “Il Tabarro”, “La Boheme” and “A Little Night Music” .

Cantor Adler is the proud father of three sons, Abraham, who is married to Dorina Shuster, Jeremy, and Adam. He also is grandfather to two granddaughters, Hannah and Julia.

Rabbi Scott E. Colbert, D. Min

Rabbi Scott E. Colbert is a native of Los Angeles, California. He was ordained as a Rabbi in 2006 by the Rabbinical Academy of America, Woodmere, New York. He has served Temple Emanu-El in many capacities since 1987 when he was called by the congregation to serve as its Cantor-Educator. He was educated at UCLA and then graduated from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1973 and was invested as Cantor. He then went on to earn an advanced degree in educational administration. In 1991, the Reform Movement awarded him the prestigious title of Reform Jewish Educator.

In 2001, he graduated again from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion earning a Doctor of Ministry degree in Pastoral Counseling. Earlier that year, the College-Institute honored him with an honorary doctorate for his outstanding service to the Jewish people.

Rabbi Colbert has served congregations in Texas and Seattle and was the Head of School at the Valley Jewish Day School in Phoenix, Arizona prior to coming to Atlanta. He served as Executive Vice President of the American Conference of Cantors and was an Ex Officio member of the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee of the Union for Reform Judaism.

He is a member of the American Conference of Cantors, the National Association of Temple Educators, the National Association of Jewish Chaplains, the American Psychological Association and the Atlanta Rabbinical Association.

In addition to serving as Clergy Associate at Temple Emanu-El, Rabbi Colbert has a private counseling practice and is also affiliated with Southeastern Gynecologic Oncology. He is a published author and continues to write for various professional journals.

When time permits, he loves to travel the world with his wife, Karen.

Rabbi Emeritus Stanley M. Davids, D.D.

Born in Cleveland in 1939, Rabbi Davids received his BA, magna cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was ordained from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (Cincinnati) in 1965, and he was subsequently awarded his Doctor of Divinity from HUC-JIR in recognition of his work world-wide on behalf of Jewish communities, and for his commitment to working with teens.

Following service as a Chaplain in the U.S. Army, Rabbi Davids served congregations in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and New York before coming to Temple Emanu-El in Atlanta in 1992.

Widely active on the Jewish scene, Rabbi Davids's most significant commitments have been to the Central Conference of American Rabbis (Chairman, National Youth Committee; Chairman, Israel Committee; national Executive Committee; "Father" of the Reform Zionist Platform, adopted by the CCAR in 1997); Alpha Epsilon Pi, which he served as International President and as chair of the AEPi Foundation; Association of Reform Zionists of America/ARZA (president 2003-2008); State of Israel Bonds (Honorary Life President of International Rabbinic Cabinet; national co-chair of the 1995 Israel Bonds Campaign).

He has also been honored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews for his interfaith work, and he was awarded Life Membership in the North American Federation of Temple Youth, in recognition of his decades of work with NFTY.

Currently residing in Jerusalem, Resa and Rabbi Davids made Aliyah in 2004, immediately following his retiring as Senior Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El and his election as our Rabbi Emeritus. Rabbi Davids currently serves on the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency, on the Senior Executive of the World Zionist Organization, and on the Board of Overseers of the Jerusalem campus of the Hebrew Union College. He has widely published essays and articles in scholarly journals, and lectures throughout the United States.

Resa serves on the National Board of the Women of Reform Judaism, where she holds the WRJ/Israel portfolio. Over the past 3 years, Resa has opened and developed 25 chapters of WRJ/Israel in Reform congregations throughout Israel. The Davids are blessed with three children and 8 grandchildren, and return to Atlanta annually to study with us.