Clergy

Rabbi David Fainsilber

Rabbi David Fainsilber is the spiritual leader and first full-time rabbi of the Jewish Community of Greater Stowe. Originally from Montreal, Rabbi David and his wife Alison joined our community in 2013. You may spot Rabbi David, Alison, and their three children skiing at the mountain, biking on the Lamoille Rail Trail, or schmoozing at the Farmers’ Market. Rabbi David has brought a surge of energy and spirit to JCOGS. He has grown the JCOGS religious school 800%, reaching youth from birth to college. Rabbi David infuses Shabbat and Holy Days with spirit, and composes and records liturgical music. He is instrumental in working across the local community with faith, business, law enforcement, and educational leaders to help form the first homeless shelter in Lamoille County.  Rabbi David is a founding steering committee member of the Racial Equity Alliance of Lamoille (REAL), tackling systemic racism in our community. His pastoral presence is healing in our turbulent world. His impact has been featured in the The Boston Globe, the Vermont weekly Seven Days, and VPR. Prior to moving to Vermont, Rabbi David served as an interfaith CIRCLE Fellow, AJWS Kol Tzedek Fellow, and as a rabbinic intern for Nehar Shalom, Kolot Chayeinu, and MIT and Tufts Hillels. Ordained at the pluralistic rabbinical school of Hebrew College, he also received a Certificate in Organizational Leadership from Boston University and Hebrew College. He is currently part of the fourth cohort of the prestigious CLI Fellowship. Rabbi David is more than slightly obsessed with Crossfit, enjoys chopping wood, and loves wrestling with his kids. Read his writings and listen to his music at www.melodyofeverysoul.com. Contact: rabbidavid@jcogs.org

Rabbinic Intern Emmanuel Cantor

Rabbinic Intern Emmanuel Cantor provides rabbinic support to the JCOGS community during Rabbi David’s sabbatical. At JCOGS, Emmanuel leads Shabbat and holiday services, organizes youth and adult education opportunities, officiates at lifecycle events, and offers pastoral care to JCOGS’s members and their families.  
Emmanuel is in his final year of rabbinical school at Hebrew College, where he is a Wexner Graduate Fellow. He has served a number of Jewish communities as a student rabbi, most recently Congregation Dorshei Tzedek in Newton, MA and the Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale. Before rabbinical school, Emmanuel worked throughout DC and Maryland as a community organizer for Jews United for Justice.
Originally from New York City, Emmanuel earned his BA at Yale, where he majored in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Emmanuel has also studied at Yeshivat Maale Gilboa in northern Israel. When not in Stowe, Emmanuel lives with his fiancée Shira in the greater Boston area. 
Emmanuel is eager to speak with community members and learn more about their lives and what brings them to JCOGS. He can be reached at emmanuel.cantor@jcogs.org.