Believing the essential meaning of rabbi is “teacher,” Rabbi Pamela Gottfried (she/her) strives in her rabbinate to help individual students of all ages reach their potential. She is delighted to be serving as the Interim Rabbi at Temple Kol Emeth in Marietta, GA while the congregation conducts a search for their next rabbi.

Since her rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, Rabbi Gottfried has taught in churches, colleges, community centers, mosques, retreat centers, schools, summer camps, and synagogues. In her recent roles as Scholar-in-Residence and Dean of Jewish Studies at The Weber School, Rabbi Gottfried developed interdisciplinary curriculum, team-taught in classes with colleagues in the Spanish and Jewish Studies departments and served as the art teacher for a team-taught course on Jewish Symbolism. At Camp Ramah Darom, she taught both Ceramics and Judaics to campers and counselors. As an artist, Rabbi Gottfried often incorporates creative expression and message-driven art in her teaching of teens and adults.

A strong proponent of pluralism and innovation, Rabbi Gottfried is a board member and member of the publishing team of Bayit, a collaborative community of clergy, liturgists, artists and educators that is committed to creating tools for Jewish life in the 21st century. She is an alumna of Clal's Rabbis Without Borders and LEAP fellowships, where she trained to help people access Jewish wisdom and culture, and be Jewish in ways that fit their worldview and enhance their lives.

Rabbi Gottfried has been involved in the interfaith community in Metro Atlanta for more than twenty years, and has served as a volunteer in many multi-faith organizations, including the Neshama Interfaith Center. Deeply committed to social justice, she is an activist and volunteer in the LGBTQ+ community, working with SOJOURN and Georgia Equality, as well as an advisory board member and volunteer with the Jewish Climate Action Network of Georgia (JCAN-GA). Rabbi Gottfried is a member of the Atlanta Rabbinical Association (ARA) and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association (RRA).

Gottfried is the author of Found in Translation: Common Words of Uncommon Wisdom, and is currently working on a collection of creative nonfiction that includes stories and poems about her more than 25 years as a parent and rabbi.