Clergy

Rabbi Daniel Kirzane

Daniel Kirzane began his tenure as the rabbi of KAM Isaiah Israel on July 1, 2024. Rabbi Kirzane is a passionate scholar and sensitive pastor, caring deeply about text and tradition as well as community and relationship. A proud Reform Jew, Rabbi Kirzane promotes open, equitable, and creative Jewish life that improves not only our congregation but the broader world in which we live. 

Originally from Roanoke, Virginia, Rabbi Kirzane grew up in an interfaith home. He began his path to the rabbinate in high school, eventually majoring in Jewish Studies and Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, where he also met his wife, Jessica. (Jessica Kirzner and Daniel Crane created their new surname, Kirzane, when they married in 2010.) Rabbi Kirzane committed a year to national service with the AmeriCorps program, City Year: Washington, D.C., before enrolling in rabbinical school at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC). While at HUC, Rabbi Kirzane earned an additional degree in Jewish education and engaged in a broad array of activities including coordinating the seminary's soup kitchen, staffing Reform trips to Israel, and interning at the CCAR Press. Rabbi Kirzane also earned the prestigious Wexner Graduate Fellowship and subsequently served as a chair of the fellowship's alumni council. After ordination from HUC in 2014, Rabbi Kirzane served pulpits in Mahwah, NJ; Overland Park, KS; and Oak Park, IL; and he is proud to have earned an MA in Religious Studies from the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he specialized in Hebrew Bible. Rabbi Kirzane currently serves as the chair of the HUC Alumni Leadership Council and serves on HUC's Board of Governors; he is also the vice president of the Chicago Association of Reform Rabbis. Rabbi Kirzane loves board games, travel, and--if you'll forgive the cliche--the Torah. He lives with Jessica and their two children in Hyde Park.

Cantor David Berger

Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Cantor Berger received a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, an MA in Philosophy at the Jewish Theological Seminary, and a Masters of Sacred Music and cantorial ordination at the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music. Cantor Berger also earned a certificate in Jewish education at the Melton Centre for Jewish Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He currently serves on the board of the American Conference of Cantors as the chair for Continuing Professional Development. As a performer, Cantor Berger is especially known for his expertise in traditional Ashkenazic chazzanut (cantorial singing) as well as his knowledge of Jewish world music.

Cantor Berger previously served as the cantor of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in New York City from 2005 to 2009 and then at Congregation Tikvat Jacob Beth Torah in Manhattan Beach, CA from 2009 to 2014. Cantor Berger frequently brings his sons, Matan and Avraham, to services at KAM Isaiah Israel. His husband, Rabbi D'ror Chankin-Gould, is the Assistant Rabbi at Anshe Emet Synagogue.

Visit www.cantordavidberger.com to hear excerpts of Cantor Berger's music.