Biographies of our Staff
Rabbi Julie Schwartz
Rabbi Julie S. Schwartz is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio. She earned a BA degree from Northwestern University as a three year graduate with a major in History. She was ordained as a rabbi from HUC-JIR, Cincinnati in June, 1986. She served as a chaplain in the United States Navy upon her ordination. Rabbi Schwartz was the first woman rabbi to serve as a chaplain in the United States military and was stationed at the Naval Hospital in Oakland, California. At the conclusion of her three year service in the Navy, Rabbi Schwartz received the Naval Commendation medal.
Rabbi Schwartz returned to HUC-JIR in 1989 and held a variety of positions in the seminary administration, including Wexner Grant Administrator, Director of the HUC-JIR Alumni Association, Director of Continuing Alumni Education. At the same time, she continued her education in pastoral care and counseling. She earned her certification as a Clinical Pastoral Educator and was only the third rabbi to do so. She established the course of study in pastoral counseling for rabbinical students at the Cincinnati HUC-JIR campus. She left HUC-JIR with the rank of Associate Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling and was the first faculty member appointed as a dual track administrator and professor.
In 1999, she moved to Atlanta and became the Rabbi for the newly created Weinstein Hospice, a hospice dedicated to serving the Jewish community. She was also the rabbi for Congregation B'nai Israel, the only Jewish congregation in the five counties south of Atlanta. She taught in the Melton School as well as in a variety of other adult education programs.
She currently serves on the Boards of the The Weber School (Jewish Community High School) and the National Association for Jewish Chaplains (NAJC). She is the chair of the Certification Commission for NAJC, a transdenominational organization.
She has four children, Reuven, Aryeh, Gavriella, and Adina.
Cantor Benjamin Adler
Cantor Benjamin Adler comes from a well known family of Cantors and is a sixth generation Cantor. He was born in Israel and emigrated to the United States at age nine. Cantor Adler grew up in the Detroit area and sang in a boys choir with his father, Cantor Mordechai Adler and cousin, Cantor Hyman J. Adler.
Cantor Adler conducted his first High Holiday services in B’nai David Congregation in Detroit at age seventeen. As a child he concertized and participated in many weddings in the Detroit area. He received his Jewish education at the Midrasha College of Jewish Studies in Detroit and also a Masters Degree in Music from Florida State University.
Cantor Adler, a lyric tenor, is currently the Cantor of Temple Emanuel in Dunwoody, Ga. Prior to that he was Cantor of Ahavath Achim Synagogue in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the largest conservative synagogues in the world. He has served pulpits in West Palm Beach, Florida, Willmette, Illinois (suburb of Chicago), and Miami. Before coming to Atlanta, he was Cantor and Education Director of Beth David Congregation, the oldest synagogue in Miami. He has performed in concerts of both Jewish and secular music and has performed leading roles in operas and musicals including “The Magic Flute”, “Il Tabarro”, “La Boheme” and “A Little Night Music” .
Cantor Adler is the proud father of three sons, Abraham, who is married to Dorina Shuster, Jeremy, and Adam. He looks forward to celebrating his granddaughter Hanah Bracha’s first birthday in October.
Rabbi Scott E. Colbert, D. Min
Rabbi Scott E. Colbert is a native of Los Angeles, California. He was ordained as a Rabbi in 2006 by the Rabbinical Academy of America, Woodmere, New York. He has served Temple Emanu-El in many capacities since 1987 when he was called by the congregation to serve as its Cantor-Educator. He was educated at UCLA and then graduated from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1973 and was invested as Cantor. He then went on to earn an advanced degree in educational administration. In 1991, the Reform Movement awarded him the prestigious title of Reform Jewish Educator.
In 2001, he graduated again from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion earning a Doctor of Ministry degree in Pastoral Counseling. Earlier that year, the College-Institute honored him with an honorary doctorate for his outstanding service to the Jewish people.
Rabbi Colbert has served congregations in Texas and Seattle and was the Head of School at the Valley Jewish Day School in Phoenix, Arizona prior to coming to Atlanta. He served as Executive Vice President of the American Conference of Cantors and was an Ex Officio member of the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee of the Union for Reform Judaism.
He is a member of the American Conference of Cantors, the National Association of Temple Educators, the National Association of Jewish Chaplains, the American Psychological Association and the Atlanta Rabbinical Association.
In addition to serving as Clergy Associate at Temple Emanu-El, Rabbi Colbert has a private counseling practice and is also affiliated with Southeastern Gynecologic Oncology. He is a published author and continues to write for various professional journals.
When time permits, he loves to travel the world with his wife, Karen.
Rabbi Ellen Nemhauser
Rabbi Nemhauser was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. She graduated in the 1980's with a Music Bachelor of Arts in Voice from the University of Toronto.
For her rabbinical ordination at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Rabbi Nemhauser studied in Jerusalem, then Los Angeles, and finally New York. After ordination, Rabi Nemhauser completed the extra year of coursework toward a Master in Jewish Education at HUC-JIR.
Rabbi Nemhauser has served the Reform Movement in the National offices of the URJ as the Education Department’s Acting Director, Compass Magazine Editor, the Managing Editor of the Press.
Most recently, Rabbi Nemhauser directed the Joint Commission for Sustaining Rabbinic Education, where she created and implemented a variety of programs that enabled rabbis ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion to continue their studies.
Rabbi Nemhauser moved to Atlanta in 2005 with her husband Jeffrey and their three children.
Rabbi Emeritus Stanley M. Davids, D.D.
Born in Cleveland in 1939, Rabbi Davids received his BA, magna cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was ordained from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (Cincinnati) in 1965, and he was subsequently awarded his Doctor of Divinity from HUC-JIR in recognition of his work world-wide on behalf of Jewish communities, and for his commitment to working with teens.
Following service as a Chaplain in the U.S. Army, Rabbi Davids served congregations in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and New York before coming to Temple Emanu-El in Atlanta in 1992.
Widely active on the Jewish scene, Rabbi Davids's most significant commitments have been to the Central Conference of American Rabbis (Chairman, National Youth Committee; Chairman, Israel Committee; election to national Executive Committee; "Father" of the Reform Zionist Platform, adopted by the CCAR in 1997); Alpha Epsilon Pi (where he currently serves as International President); Association of Reform Zionists of America (national Vice President; chaired 1997 World Zionist Congress Election Campaign for ARZA; ARZA representative on steering committee which in September, 1998, carried out the merger of ARZA with the North American Board, World Union for Progressive Judaism); State of Israel Bonds (Honorary Life President of International Rabbinic Cabinet; a national co-chair of the 1995 Israel Bonds Campaign); co-chair locally of the Atlanta Jewish Federation's Synagogue- Federation Committee, and currently President of the Atlanta Rabbinic Association.
He has also been honored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews for his interfaith work, and he was awarded Life Membership in the North American Federation of Temple Youth, in recognition of his decades of work with NFTY.
The rabbi has traveled more than 40 times to Israel, and has participated on missions to serve the Jewish communities of Moscow (twice), Budapest; Warsaw, Prague, and Addis Ababa.
Rabbi Davids is married to Resa Davids, who currently works with the Adult Learning division of the Atlanta Jewish Community Center. They have three children: Ronn Davids; Shoshana (and Jay) Dweck; and Aviva (& Jason) Levin.
The rest of the Davids clan includes several iguanas and a multiplicity of pure-bred cats.