Our Clergy

Rabbi Brian Leiken (he/him) - Senior Rabbi

Rabbi Brian Leiken (he/him) is the senior Rabbi at CBI. Prior to joining CBI, Rabbi Leiken served as the Associate Rabbi of Temple Shalom in Norwalk, CT for five years and the Senior Rabbi of Temple Beth Sholom in New City, NY for thirteen years. During his years in New City, Rabbi Leiken served on the board of Jewish Community Center of Rockland County and was president of the Rockland County Board of Rabbis. 

Rabbi Leiken has served as the chaplain for the Rockland County Sheriff and been actively involved with the Nyack Branch of the NAACP. He has been actively involved with youth group work and organized many teen trips to Washington DC and Selma, Alabama. Rabbi Leiken is a Melton teacher and has taught adult education in the Rockland County Jewish Federation’s Midreshet program for over ten years.  
Rabbi Leiken grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and attended Brandeis University which he graduated from in 1998 with High Honors.  

After college, he spent a year working at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington D.C.  He then spent two years working for Public Campaign, a non-profit dedicated to comprehensive campaign finance reform. Rabbi Leiken was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2007.  

Rabbi Leiken is married to Shara Abraham and has two amazing children, Ari (16) and Kaleb (20).  Off the bimah, Rabbi Leiken loves playing guitar, watching Cleveland sports, listening to live music and watching movies. 

Email: bleiken@bethisrael.org

Rabbi Kelly Levy (she/her) - Associate Rabbi

Rabbi Kelly Levy joined Congregation Beth Israel in July 2018. Rabbi Levy was ordained from Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion in 2014 from the New York campus. Throughout rabbinical school, Rabbi Levy served as a student rabbi in Albany, Georgia, and as an intern in the Mt. Sinai Hospital Palliative Care Unit in New York City. She began her rabbinate in Rochester, New York, where she served as the assistant and associate rabbi of Temple B’rith Kodesh. She received her BA in Psychology from Texas Tech University in 2007.

Rabbi Levy is an alumna of the Balfour Brickner Rabbinic Fellowship through the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Much of her rabbinate is informed by participating in social justice, and she continues that important work at CBI. She has a specific focus in Reproductive Justice, primarily as a member of the Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas Clergy Advisory Council and as an NCJW Rabbi for Repro. She currently serves as a member of the Admissions Committee for the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), and is a past board member and president of the Women's Rabbinic Network. Additionally, Rabbi Levy participates in many interfaith and Jewish community groups in Austin, including being an Austin city leader for the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network. She is also a member of the pilot cohort of the Amplify Israel Rabbinic Fellowship.

A native of San Antonio (although she was born at Seton Hospital across the street), Rabbi Levy loves being a part of Congregation Beth Israel. Along with her husband, David, daughters Ezri and Poppy, their dog Frank, Rabbi Levy knows that CBI’s warmth, passion, and joy for Jewish living makes this incredible congregation and community a remarkable place. Rabbi Levy’s door is always open to all who help make CBI a Kehilah Kedosha, a holy community.

Email: klevy@bethisrael.org

Sarah Avner (she/her) - Cantorial Soloist

Cantorial Soloist Sarah Avner grew up in London, Ontario, and holds an Associates Degree in Veterinary Technology from Centralia College. Sarah worked for several years as a Veterinary Technician in Brantford, Ontario. In 1998, her husband Jonathan started a job in Austin and the couple moved here.  Sarah soon began volunteering at Congregation Beth Israel and in early 1999 she was hired as the Executive Assistant to the Clergy. In June 2002 she began work in the CBI Religious School office. Seven months later, Sarah, Jonathan and Jacob moved to southern Indiana to be closer to family. While in Indiana, she was the principal of the religious school at a small synagogue.

In 2006, the family moved back to Austin with their three children. Sarah began working as a monthly song leader at CBI’s Shabbat evening services in 2007. She began working in the Religious School office as the Education Coordinator in 2010 while continuing to provide music at Shabbat evening services. Sarah began her current position as Cantorial Soloist and member of the Clergy Team in 2017.

Sarah enjoys walking her Goldendoodle Lacy, swimming laps, and relaxing at the beach on Lake Huron—where her parents first met. She has been a member of the CBI community long enough to be proud of the members of her 8^th grade Sunday school classes who have grown to become adults with careers and families, and to remember when members of the current Confirmation class were brand new babies. From teaching our youngest members to find a place for prayer in their hearts to hanging out with teens as they struggle with the some of the most challenging years of their lives to holding members close as they struggle with loss, she knows that every day she gets to spend as a member of the greater CBI community is a gift.

Email: savner@bethisrael.org

Rabbi Steven Folberg (he/him) - Rabbi Emeritus

Rabbi Steven Folberg is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated LaSalle University in Philadelphia, Maxima Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
Rabbi Folberg received his rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion In New York City in 1985. He has served on the national Board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis as a member at large and has also chaired the CCAR Resolutions Committee. In April 2010, Rabbi Folberg was awarded an honorary Doctor Of Divinity degree in recognition of the 25th anniversary of his ordination. Rabbi Folberg co-authored Bright Lights in Dark Times, a Jewish history textbook for middle school and high school students.
Upon ordination, Rabbi Folberg served Temple Beth-El in Great Neck, New York as its Assistant and Associate Rabbi for six years until 1991. In 1991, he assumed the position of senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel, serving this congregation for 33 years. In June 2024, he was awarded the title of Rabbi Emeritus.
Rabbi Folberg is an alumnus of Rabbinic Cohort 5 of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. He is fascinated by the work being done on the intersection of Judaism and mindfulness practice, including meditation and yoga. He loves teaching students of all ages and especially cherishes the relationships that have developed between him and so many Temple families over his more than three decades serving Congregation Beth Israel. He feels honored to have helped shape Congregation Beth Israel into a welcoming, intellectually stimulating, nonjudgmental, intentional spiritual community devoted to enriching the lives of its members and working for justice and peace in the world.
Rabbi Folberg is married to Saundra Goldman, a writer, writing teacher and art historian. They adore their daughter, Shira, who was born in 2001.
In July 2025, Rabbi Folberg was honored to be named Rabbi of Temple Emanuel of Tempe, Arizona.

Email: emeritus@bethisrael.org.