Senior Rabbi Daniel G. Zemel has been with Temple Micah since 1983 and has woven his open-minded, creative approach to Judaism into the culture and worship at Micah. He feels his primary role as rabbi is grappling with the challenge of “translating” the inherited Jewish past into a theology and practice that speaks to today. A graduate of Brown University, Rabbi Zemel received his rabbinic ordination from the New York campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1979. Over the years, he has been involved in numerous community and Jewish organizations but derives greatest satisfaction from being a founder of Micah House, a group home for formerly homeless women in recovery from addiction. His 20-year involvement with Synagogue 2000 was instrumental in shaping his vision of synagogue life and the role of rabbi. Rabbi Zemel has written many articles and essays on a wide variety of Jewish topics; he contributed an essay to each volume of the Prayers of Awe series, a multi-volume commentary on the High Holy Day liturgy edited by Rabbi Larry A. Hoffman. Rabbi Zemel published A Time to Speak, a book of his sermons and writings, in 2019. Rabbi Zemel is blessed with a loving family that is the center of his life. When not at Micah, he is either with family, visiting Israel, reading, studying, thinking, or dreaming of his beloved Chicago White Sox playing in the World Series.
