Student Rabbi Melissa (Carp) Lefkowitz

Melissa Carp Lefkowitz originally hails from Newton, Massachusetts. Her family belongs to Beth Avodah, a Reform synagogue where she went to preschool, became a bat mitzvah, and subsequently married Rabbi Kevin Lefkowitz on June 12, 2022.

Melissa obtained her bachelor's degree from Bates College and spent two years working at Temple Israel in Boston upon graduating. At Temple Israel, she worked closely with the 20s and 30s program. 

Melissa, a rising 5th-year rabbinic student at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, has had the great privilege of working with many communities across the state of California: in San Luis Obispo, Ridgecrest, Calabasas, Pacific Palisades and Los Angeles. Additionally, Melissa spent her first year of rabbinical school in Jerusalem interning for Women of the Wall.

Melissa is passionate about advocating for those that are often marginalized in Jewish communities. When Melissa is not knee deep in Torah or writing sermons, you can find her and Kevin (proud University of Texas grad and Houston native) cooking way too much food for Shabbat dinner while simultaneously panicking that there isn't enough, exploring the many amazing hiking trails that SoCal has to offer, or enjoying a book by the beach. Melissa is thrilled to be given the opportunity to intern in Austin this year and can't wait to meet each one of you.