Brad Levenberg grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio where he was regularly sent to the office of the Sunday School Principal for incessantly talking during class. Embracing that “talent” and realizing that all that was missing was a larger audience and a microphone, Brad decided to pursue the congregational rabbinate at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion following his undergraduate education at Antioch College.
He embraced opportunities while in seminary to work as a student rabbi in New Jersey, Virginia, and Ohio, and in chaplaincy settings in New York, but credits his role as a Youth Advisor, working with sarcastic and unruly teens, as the experience that best prepared him for congregational work. An innovator who embraces the mandate to “create positive Jewish memories”, Rabbi Levenberg came to Temple Sinai in Sandy Springs following his ordination in 2006. He utilized his conversational style of teaching and overly-verbose sermons to win the hearts of the congregation and was promoted from Assistant Rabbi to Associate Rabbi in 2009 and, in 2022, was elected as a Senior Rabbi of Temple Sinai.
Rabbi Levenberg has served on many boards throughout his career in Atlanta. Because his opinions are not welcomed by his family at home, he serves at present locally on the boards of the Anti-Defamation League, Neranena (formerly the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival), the American Jewish Committee (Brad actually sits on the Executive Committee), and the FY 24 Atlanta Repair The World Advisory Council, and her he serves the Reform movement by sitting on the Ethics Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. He co-chairs the Atlanta AJC’s Black-Jewish Coalition and serves as immediate past chair of the Sandy Springs Interfaith Clergy Association. He also co-chairs the film evaluation committee for the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. In May, 2021, he completed his doctorate from Antioch University in Leadership and Change. Rabbi Dr. Levenberg (as he is known by his very proud mother) published a dissertation titled Applying the present to the past: The experiences of five civil rights rabbis in context of contemporary leadership theory in which he explores the leadership legacy of five social justice rabbis. He enjoys sharing his findings as Scholar in Residence, in various sermons, at dinner parties and cocktail receptions, and with his friends and family. Truth be told, Rabbi Dr. Levenberg does not need an audience to be entertained by his own whimsy.
Rabbi Dr. Levenberg is married to Rebecca Levenberg, a defender of the arts through her work at the Woodruff Art’s Center as the Director of Foundations and Grants, and is the parent of Ilana, a student at the University of Kansas (Rock Chalk!) majoring in Film and minoring in Jewish Studies, and Evan, a middle school student who is struggling with determining whether he will become a YouTube star or a professional NBA player. Rabbi Dr. Levenberg’s family contributes greatly to his sense of optimism and appreciation of joy as well as to an increasing collection of grey hair.
