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Rabbis

Rabbi Becca Diamond and Rabbi David Jaffe are co-rabbis of Temple Kol Tikvah. They were both ordained in May 2022 on the historic Cincinnati campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and were married on June 18, 2022. They currently live in Cornelius, NCwith their dogs Ginny and Hermione.

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Rabbi Becca Diamond is from Ridgewood, New Jersey. She was ordained from the Cincinnati campus of HUC-JIR after transferring from the New York campus. Her rabbinical thesis is titled “Barbarism, Pogroms, and Lawlessness: The Jewish Response to Lynching and Race Riots in the Jim Crow Era.” While at HUC-JIR, Rabbi Becca served pulpits all across the midwest, including in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Muncie, Indiana; Sandusky, Ohio; and Jefferson City, Missouri. She completed a unit of CPE, and she worked as a chaplain at The Seasons, a senior living facility in Cincinnati. While in New York, Rabbi Becca worked as a teacher for the Leese Center for Living Judaism at Central Synagogue. During her final year of rabbinical school, Rabbi Becca was awarded a prize for the best sermon delivered at the Cincinnati campus of HUC-JIR where she spoke about cancel culture and how we can combat it with “counsel culture.” Before HUC, Rabbi Becca worked at the College of Charleston Hillel for two years as the program director. She attended Muhlenberg College, where she majored in history and minored in Jewish studies. Her undergraduate thesis is titled “The Jewish Community of New Amsterdam, 1654-1664.” Rabbi Becca grew up at Barnert Temple, where she became a bat mitzvah and was confirmed. She worked at URJ Eisner Camp for six summers, and also staffed a NFTY-in-Israel trip and interned for the National Council of Jewish Women as part of the Machon Kaplan program at the Religious Action Center. Rabbi Becca enjoys exploring the greenways and parks of Lake Norman, and she loves to sit outside and read.

 

Contact Rabbi Becca at rabbibecca@templekoltikvah.org

Rabbi David Jaffe is from Louisville, Kentucky. He was ordained from the Cincinnati campus of HUC-JIR. His Capstone project is entitled “Anthology of Original Creative Liturgy and Music.” While at HUC-JIR, Rabbi David served pulpits in Marquette, Michigan; Marion, Ohio; Paducah, Kentucky; and Parkersburg, West Virginia. He completed two units of Clinical Pastoral Education where he worked as a chaplain at The Seasons and The Kenwood, both of which are senior living facilities. During his final year of rabbinical school, Rabbi David was awarded a prize for being the most creative student in his pulpit work at the Cincinnati campus of HUC-JIR. This was in large part due to his senior sermon where he collaborated with seven other rabbinical students to create an immersive experience utilizing multimedia and music. Before rabbinical school, Rabbi David lived in Louisville, Kentucky where he had several jobs including being a personal trainer, freelance musician/music instructor, and a client experience coordinator in real estate. He received his Master’s of Music in Trumpet Performance from the University of Louisville where he focused on period performance and the use of historical instruments. Rabbi David attended Centre College for his undergraduate degree in Music where he was able to travel and study abroad in Greece; Bali, Indonesia; Israel; and Mexico. While a student at Centre College, he was awarded prizes in both music and biblical studies. Growing up, Rabbi David attended The Temple in Louisville, Kentucky where he became a bar mitzvah, was confirmed and taught Hebrew school and Judaic studies. Rabbi David loves spending time with Rabbi Becca and their beautiful boxer dog (Rabbi) Ginny.

 

Contact Rabbi David at rabbidavid@templekoltikvah.org

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