Rabbi Emmanuel Cantor’s passion for Jewish learning and practice flows from a lifelong love of Jewish history, spirituality, and community. As a teacher, spiritual caregiver, and community organizer, Rabbi Emmanuel believes in a diversity of Jewish paths and expressions, and is dedicated to supporting all those seeking deeper connections to Judaism and Jewish community. 

Rabbi Emmanuel received ordination from the pluralistic rabbinical school Hebrew College, where he was a Wexner Fellow. As a rabbinical student, he served as the spiritual leader of the Jewish Community of Greater Stowe in Vermont, worked as an interfaith chaplain at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and helped lead a number of campus Jewish communities at the height of the COVID crisis. 

Rabbi Emmanuel has explored a wide variety of Jewish communities and traditions, grateful for the perspectives each chapter has offered. Raised in a Conservative synagogue, he studied at an Orthodox day school and Israeli yeshiva, led Reform High Holiday services at Tufts University, and served as a student rabbi at a Reconstructionist synagogue in Newton, MA.

Before rabbinical school, Rabbi Emmanuel worked in DC and Maryland as a community organizer for Jews United for Justice. He holds a BA in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Yale University. As a student, he was active in local climate justice movements and conducted award-winning research on masculinity among Israeli seminary students. 

Originally from New York City, Rabbi Emmanuel enjoys yoga, writing poetry, and rooting as a reluctant yet committed New York sports fan. He and his wife Shira live in Arlington and are always seeking out new biking trails across the DMV. 

Rabbi Emmanuel is excited to meet, share Shabbat, and study with Den members throughout DC, MD, and NoVA. He is always eager to learn more about their lives and interests, as well as what brings them to the Den and Jewish community.