After 50 years, Franklin synagogue gets first rabbi
RuthE Levy is the first rabbi to lead Mountain Synagogue.
Lily Levin photo
On Sept. 23, Mountain Synagogue welcomed a new year — and a new rabbi.
The Franklin-based congregation gathered for morning Rosh Hashanah services at the old St. Cyprian’s chapel. One of the most important Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah literally translates to “head of the year” and, in 2025, marked the start of 5,786 on the Hebrew calendar.
Introducing Rabbi RuthE Levy — who prefers to be addressed by what she calls her “designer name” — was the first order of business that Tuesday.
Noah Levine told an audience of approximately 50 that the ceremony would have three parts.
“The first part is the passing of the Torah … The second part is Rabbi RuthE affirming her responsibilities to you, the congregation. And the third part is a blessing for Rabbi RuthE,” he said.
Levine works for the Jewish Community Legacy Project, a group offering guidance and assistance to small congregations in the United States and Canada.
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He and Levy met through Levy’s involvement with Congregation Etz Chaim in Marrietta, Georgia, as a part of her rabbinical program. At the time, the rabbi’s work with the Institute of Southern Jewish Studies — and its role supporting small congregations in the Southeast — had piqued her interest in leading one.
“I found out that [Levine] was also working with small congregations throughout the country to help them with their various problems. And so, I whispered in his ear that I was interested in having a small congregation,” she said.
That led Levine to suggest Mountain Synagogue as a potential option.
The Western North Carolina congregation had put together a rabbi search committee, which chair Harvey Morse said was trying every strategy available — “newspaper ads, ZipRecruiter, some Jewish sites, help-oriented sites” — to attract applicants. Morse said in the end, three people responded. Two, including Rabbi RuthE, were based in Atlanta.
“I went for my audition [for Mountain Synagogue]. I came with a whole bunch of tambourines, and I spread them out,” the rabbi said, adding that the congregation looked like they had no idea why she’d brought the instruments.
Levy then led the group through a few prayers. They eventually reached Mi Chamocha, a song expressing praise for God that’s typically recited with an upbeat tune — and at Mountain Synagogue, with tambourines to match.
“[The congregation] had a great old time,” Levy recounted with a chuckle.
So did the rabbi.
“I fell in love with these people immediately,” she said.
Levy, then, was “waiting on pins and needles” throughout the week of the board’s hiring decision.
As the board met on Wednesdays, “I was hoping for a phone call Wednesday night,” she said. “But it did not come.”
It didn’t come Thursday morning or even early afternoon.
“Harvey called me around 4 o’clock … I said, ‘Oh, Harvey, I’m so glad at that point, be it though what way it went, just that the agony was over,’” Levy said, adding that was a “very happy” phone call.
Levy will conduct annual High Holiday services and monthly 10 a.m. Shabbat services.
Morse said that services are typically held in the social hall beside the chapel. The ability to use the property is the product of what he described as an “unbelievable affiliation with the [Episcopal] church — 45 years.”
The chapel itself was built in the late 1800s as St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church, a historically Black parish.
A little over 15 years ago, the chapel merged with a predominately white church and adopted the name of All Saints Episcopal Church. The new parish is located in downtown Franklin but still meets twice per month in the old Roller Mill Road chapel.
For Levy, Mountain Synagogue’s Franklin location means making a monthly round-trip commute of over five hours from to and from her home base of Atlanta.
“And as you can see, RuthE has this little mini car. That’s what she drives back and forth,” Morse told The Smoky Mountain News, motioning to a tiny vehicle emblazoned front to rear with the TeamLogic IT logo.
Rabbi RuthE’s vision
Before she became a rabbi, RuthE Levy was a certified Jewish lay leader.
She served in this capacity at the Goldsboro Air Force base, where she said her “primary responsibility … was to ensure that the Jewish troops had what they needed,” like an occasional wedding or baby naming — and services on a regular basis.
Levy was ordained as a rabbi in 2022, after completing a year-long online program at Jewish Spiritual Leaders’ Institute. At Mountain Synagogue, she’ll put her credentials to use.
Levy’s entire family — sister, sister-in-law, brother, husband and son — came to town for her Sept. 23 ceremony. Her sister and son live in California, her brother and sister-in-law in Maryland.
Still, “there was no question they were going to be here,” Levy said, describing a “sense of togetherness” among family members. The rabbi told SMN that the whole ordeal felt like a wedding, especially “when everybody comes in … and we’re making trip after trip after trip to the airport.”
As for how she envisions leading the congregation in the future, Levy cited her background not only as a lay leader but also as a Jewish educator.
“Through teaching, I have different ideas. I’m hoping that eventually, we will be doing some little mitzvah projects at the end of services,” the rabbi explained.
“Mitzvah” means “good deed” in Hebrew; Levy suggested making goodie bags for senior living facilities, tying fleece blankets for the unhoused population, facilitating a food drive or cleaning up a cemetery. She said another goal was expanding the congregation, which might look like developing strong relationships with local churches and participating in interfaith holiday celebrations.
That’ll be a long-term project. In the immediate days ahead — like the first Shabbat following the Jewish High Holidays — Levy has something else in mind. She explained that the Torah portion for that week is Bereisheet: the creation story, “where man takes responsibility for the animals.”
“So, I’m going to ask the people to bring their dogs and their cats and do animal blessings as a part of the services,” said Levy.
“I like to have fun,” the rabbi said, laughing. “Hopefully they will enjoy it.”
For more about Mountain Synagogue, visit mountainsynagoguewnc.com. Anyone interested in becoming a member can contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
