RABBI LIBBY FISHER
Rabbi & Director of Religious Education
​Rabbi Libby Fisher was born and raised in the Chicago area, where she was brought up in the Jewish community of Congregation B’nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim in Deerfield, IL. Surrounded by amazing rabbis, cantors, and educators all year long, her Jewish path was further solidified by her 13 formative summers spent as camper, counselor, and senior staff member at Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute (OSRUI), a Union for Reform Judaism overnight camp in Oconomowoc, WI. At OSRUI, she learned that Judaism is not confined to the four walls of the synagogue, but can be an integral part of our lives wherever we go! ​
With such a deep and wonderful Jewish upbringing, Rabbi Fisher was curious to learn more about other faith traditions, and so she earned a B.A. in Religious Studies and a minor in Music/Vocal Performance at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. While in college, she taught Hebrew School at the local synagogue and performed in student-run musicals. After graduating, she worked at a variety of Reform congregations and Jewish institutions around the Chicago area as a youth director, administrative assistant, b’nai mitzvah tutor, and songleader before attending rabbinical school.
As a student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), she served as the rabbinic fellow at Isaac M. Wise Temple in Cincinnati, OH, where she helped to reinvigorate the religious school family curriculum and taught the Adult B’nai Mitzvah class. She also had many powerful learning experiences through her time working at Congregation Ahavath Sholom in Bluefield, WV, Temple Beth El in Muncie, IN, Congregation Or Shalom in Vernon Hills, IL, and The Ohio Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. She also spent a summer focusing on pastoral care in hospitals and senior living facilities around the Cincinnati area. While in school, Rabbi Fisher participated in many fellowships, including the inaugural cohort of the Weitzman-Joint Distribution Committee Fellowship in Global Jewish Leadership, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Leffell Israel Fellowship, and the iCenter iFellows Masters Concentration in Israel Education. She also earned the Rabbi Sally J. Priesand Women of Reform Judaism Award, given annually on the HUC-JIR Cincinnati campus to a woman who embodies clarity of vision, commitment to excellence, passion, and perseverance, just as Rabbi Priesand has done.
Rabbi Fisher was ordained in May 2021, and is excited to begin her journey in Greensboro, where you will probably find her reading a good book, befriending a neighbor’s dog, and searching for the best coffee shop. She looks forward to bringing her passions for teaching, music, and Torah to the Temple Emanuel community!
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Contact her at LFisher@tegreensboro.org