Rabbi Dr. Matthew Kaufman grew up in Okemos, the son of KI’s own Don and Liz Kaufman, and is delighted and honored to become the new spiritual leader of Congregation Kehillat Israel. During his years at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and continuing through his PhD studies in Humanities at York University in Toronto, he cultivated his passion for learning and teaching, coupled with a deep commitment to helping others. He brings to KI that passion for learning that engages the mind together with the heart, which he integrates with his approach as a spiritual companion. He values dialogue (and sometimes confrontation) with our sacred texts and traditions.

Rabbi Matthew has worked with Reconstructionist, Reform, and Conservative communities (including several visits to KI as a visiting scholar), but perhaps what is most important to know is that he is happy to return home to serve as rabbi of KI, the very community in which he became bar mitzvah, later served as a teacher in the Hebrew school under the able leadership of Arlene Sharkey, and continues to view as an integral part of his family. He brings with him his clarinet and promises that his playing is much improved from when he played it at his bar mitzvah (that’s not his only hobby, by the way — he also holds a black belt in karate).

Rabbi Matthew is also an author. His new biography of the American Jewish philosopher Horace Kallen, Horace Kallen Confronts America: Jewish Identity, Science, and Secularism (Syracuse University Press, 2019), will be of particular interest because he was the father of the late David Kallen (z”l), a beloved member of the KI community. Rabbi Matthew is blessed with a loving partner, Stephanie, who recently retired from a career of teaching and looks forward to devoting her energies to the KI community as well. He is the proud father of two children, Abraham and Batya, who celebrated their b’nai mitzvah at KI in 2016, with Rabbi Zimmerman officiating. From generation to generation, all roads seem to lead to KI. It is home.