Carol Calise Interview

This week I played a pre-recorded interview with Rabbi Carol Calise.  Rabbi Carol and her husband Michael co-lead Beth Emanuel Synagogue located in Holbrook, NY on Long Island. The Calises have two children, Josiah, who is 20 and Abigail, who is 17. Michael is from a Sephardic Jewish background. His grandmother was raised in a rabbi’s home in Turkey before immigrating to the United States. Carol is from a Gentile background and came to faith at the early age of six. As a single woman, she took the Covenant of Ruth and began to live a Jewish lifestyle in 1980. After living in Israel for a year on a kibbutz, she was invited to join the staff of Beth Emanuel working as Dr. Ray Gannon’s assistant. She has been ministering at Beth Emanuel for 32 years. She received her Master’s from NYU in the Department of Judaic Studies with a concentration in the Ancient Near East. In 1992 she had completed all her coursework towards her Ph.D. when she had to stop due to an illness and has not had the opportunity to resume those studies. Currently, she is writing a seven year Shabbat School curriculum for children. Besides her responsibilities at Beth Emanuel, she also teaches a course in the Jewish Studies program at King’s University entitled, “Mothers in Israel-Women of Valor”, speaks at women’s retreats, and is available for ministry in local congregations. Her passion is to see Jewish people come to faith in their Messiah. She loves to preach the Word and to see lives changed and transformed.