Photo credit: Phil Armstrong
By David Woolpy
Assistant Editor
The American Israelite proudly honors Renee and Rabbi Lewis Kamrass as People of the Year, recognizing a Cincinnati couple whose shared life of devotion — to Jewish community, education, family and relationships — has helped shape generations of Jewish lives in the Queen City.
Their story begins in 1972 far from Cincinnati, in Atlanta, where they met in eighth-grade algebra class on the first day of school. Even though algebra failed to capture their attention that day, something else did, because they remained close through Bnai Brith Youth Organization, reconnected later in high school and again at the University of Georgia. Ultimately, they found their way — together — to Cincinnati, where their lives and legacies would unexpectantly take root.
Renee and Lewis were married in 1983 while Lewis was completing rabbinical studies, and Renee beginning her own professional career. Although Lewis went to Cincinnati to become a rabbi, not to settle down for life, Cincinnati soon became more than a temporary stop. It became home.
Here’s how it happened. After being ordained in 1985, Lewis, now Rabbi Kamrass, wanted to remain at Isaac M. Wise Temple as assistant rabbi, drawn by the opportunity to learn from Rabbi Alan Fuchs, a potential mentor. What was expected to be a brief chapter became a defining one after Rabbi Fuchs retired in 1989. Even though it was quite rare, at just 29 years old, Rabbi Kamrass was appointed senior rabbi of Wise Temple—a normally prohibited position for an inexperienced rabbi, and a decision that carried risk for all concerned. Yet it proved to be a extraordinarily enduring match.
As many readers know, Rabbi Kamrass would go on to serve Wise Temple for the next four decades, guiding the congregation through profound social, cultural and generational change. Under his leadership, Wise Temple continuously evolved — responding to shifting Jewish identities, rising antisemitism and the changing needs of modern Jewish families. As Rabbi Kamrass says, the only thing that stayed the same was my parking space.
His rabbinate was defined not by stagnation, but by relationships. And these relationships grew as the families he served grew. As his tenure lengthened, Rabbi Kamrass officiated at weddings of children whose parents he had married years before. And he celebrated b’nai mitzvah of grandchildren of congregants he had once buried. Few rabbis are granted the privilege of accompanying families across three and four generations; fewer still do so in one community.
Alongside his congregational leadership, Rabbi Kamrass played a significant role in the broader Reform movement. He contributed to the creation of new Reform prayer books, served on the boards of Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion and the Central Conference of American Rabbis and ultimately became president of the CCAR. In those national roles, he brought what he calls a “Midwestern sensibility” to a Jewish world often dominated by coastal perspectives — advocating for the depth, seriousness, and vitality of Jewish life all across the country.
Throughout these years, Renee Kamrass built a distinguished career of her own. A reading specialist by training, she spent 38 years working with students in grades six through twelve — first in public schools and later through her own tutoring practice in Cincinnati. Specializing in learning differences and literacy challenges, she helped countless students develop the skills and confidence needed to succeed academically and beyond. Her intuitive understanding of students often anticipated formal diagnoses, making her a trusted guide for families navigating complex educational paths.
Renee also quietly redefined what it meant to be the spouse of a rabbi. Neither a traditional rebbetzin nor a public figure by obligation, she engaged in synagogue life because she would have done so regardless — forming friendships across generations and contributing meaningfully without expectation or prescribed role. As she once explained, our marriage was a “fairy tale” not because of visibility, but because Lewis’s work allowed them both to build relationships with people of every age, each offering wisdom in return.
At the center of everything is family. Lewis and Renee raised three children in Cincinnati, all of whom chose to build their adult lives here as well. Through marriage, their family expanded further, and today they are grandparents to seven granddaughters — all being raised within the Wise Temple community. That continuity, across generations and geography, is a source of deep pride and gratitude.
In honoring Rabbi Lewis Kamrass and Renee Kamrass as People of the Year, the American Israelite celebrates more than a long rabbinic tenure or a successful professional career. It honors a partnership rooted in humility, service, learning and love — one that helped make Cincinnati not just a place to live, but a Jewish home worth returning to.
