Rabbi Allan Kensky

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Sign up for Forwarding the News, our essential morning briefing with trusted, nonpartisan news and analysis, curated by Senior Writer Benyamin Cohen.
“I will never forget when Rabbi Kensky spoke from the bimah and explained why he became a rabbi. He said that he loves to study Jewish text and serve the Jewish people, but more than anything else, he wants his rabbinate to be about comforting people. I cannot find words to describe how moved I was by this revelation. Here was my rabbi and teacher saying that life is hard and his mission is to be a source of comfort. In a religious world often filled with dogmatic authoritarianism, hearing that my rabbi is primarily concerned with my comfort and that of the people in my community, I find new purpose and reason to work for the continuation of the rabbinate in Jewish life.”
—DAVID STEINER