Rabbi Laila Haas
Rabbi Haas was born and raised in Miami Beach and grew up as an active member of the Jewish community. She attended The University of Miami and received her Bachelor of Arts as a Judaic Studies major. She earned her Rabbinical Ordination and Masters of Hebrew Letters from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and a Masters of Education Administration from Xavier University. She is a lifelong learner and has attended executive education programs at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, ReNewed Jewish Leaders course, and The University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, High Performance Leadership course.
She served as Associate Rabbi and Director of Education at Temple Emanu-El, a congregation of 700 families, in Birmingham, Alabama, from 2011-2018. During her tenure at Temple Emanu-El she was privileged to work with people of all ages, from infants to seniors, to create spaces of meaningful Jewish engagement. She founded The Discovery School, a preschool for all children, re-imagined the Religious and Hebrew School programs, developed educational programming for young professionals, led the Rosh Chodesh Women’s study group, and taught Torah study. She developed and facilitated think tanks, visioning workshops, leadership training, volunteer recruitment efforts, teacher training, and curriculum development. As a rabbi and educator she sheps naches, finds joy, watching as people are led by their curiosity and witness their awe as Torah awakens their spirit and ignites their quest to learn, study and engage more deeply with the richness of our tradition.
Rabbi Laila Haas is thrilled be part of the CAJE team as the Director of Adult Learning and Growth. Her responsibilities include overseeing the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning, designing educational experiences and cultivating a community of engaged life-long learners through dynamic partnerships and collaboration across Miami Dade.
Laila and her husband Will are excited to be back in Miami and actively engaged the Jewish community that means so much to them.
