I am always available to answer questions:
Email:
Twitter: @RKonigsburg
Contact Me
Rabbi Randall J. Konigsburg
The Kind of Rabbi You Always Wanted to Know
I am always available to answer questions:
Email:
Twitter: @RKonigsburg
Rabbi Randall J. Konigsburg 
Sorry we did not have the opportunity to meet you and show you what a wonderful Jewish community we have in Memphis.
Wish you the best in your new position
Marilyn and Herb Notowich (herbnoto@bellsouth.net)
I am sorry that I did not have the opportunity to meet you as well. I was looking forward to visiting the community. Perhaps we will visit your congregation and meet you and your new Rabbi in the near future. We wish you all the best.
I wonder if we’re related. My maiden name was Koenigsberg and my grandfather was Israel ben Shmuel Moshe ha’cohayn. We come from New York and most of the family were Orthodox.
I have met cousins by email all over the world and it is great fun to get to know them. We live in Los Angeles and are members of Temple Aliyah in Woodland Hills CA. Our Rabbi is Stuart Vogel. It’s a very small world and quite possibly, some time ago, our ancestors were brothers.
I see you use the term pastor in some of your writings….do you realize that is a Christian term. You are a rabbi….please refrain from calling yourself a pastor unless you are not Jewish.
Pastor can be used as both a verb and a noun. Some Christian clergy use the term as a noun, labeling themselves as “Pastor”. As a verb, pastor is someone of any faith that is providing comfort and spiritual care to another individual. When I serve as a chaplain, I provide pastoral services to people of all faiths. I give them Pastoral support and I am being a pastor to those I serve. Clergy of any faith can provide Pastoral support and so it is correct to say that I am a Rabbi and a Pastor to my congregation.
The term minister is very similar. I do not serve as a minister, I am a Rabbi but I minister to my congregation serving their needs. I could never call myself a priest even though there were Jewish priests who served in the ancient Temple of Jerusalem. I am not a decendant of those priests nor am I ordained as a priest by any Christian organization. I am ordained as a Rabbi. I minister to my congregation and provide for their pastoral needs.
Dear Rabbi,
I attended Shabbat services today and wanted to thank you for the enlightening parcha. Not all of what you taught was new news, but you reminded me of what I had learnt and forgotten. I appreciated the booklet that you printed out for us. Have a wonderful Sunday!
A Grateful Congregant
Rabbi:
How can I get a copy of your publication entitled, “Growing a Synagogue”?
Feel free to download it from the website. That is why I posted it so everyone can use it if they think it will help.
Just make sure my name stays attached to it.
Thanks for asking.
Rabbi Konigsburg