Rabbi Margie Cella is a second-career rabbi who was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2019. Before beginning her Rabbinic studies at JTS, she had a successful 30-year career as a high school math teacher. Though she enjoyed teaching, she had thought for a long time about pursuing the rabbinate. In June of 2014, she retired from teaching and in September of the same year she began attending the seminary. As a commuter student living on Long Island, she traveled roughly 5 hours round trip daily from her home in Port Jefferson.

 

During her final year at JTS, Rabbi Cella served as the part-time interim rabbi of Congregation Agudas Israel, a Conservative synagogue in Newburgh, NY. She also previously served as the part-time rabbi of the Jewish Center of the Moriches on Long Island.

 

Since April of 2021, Rabbi Cella has been serving as an Educator for Women’s League for Conservative Judaism. She teaches each Tuesday in our Makom BeYachad zoom program, and has organized several other zoom programs, including the annual Sichot beyn Achayot series in conjunction with our Masorti Olami sisters in Israel.

 

Teaching is both her love and her strength, and she loves sharing Torah and inspiring others to deepen their knowledge of Judaism and commitment to observing the mitzvot. She and her husband, Raymond have been married for 50 years. They have a daughter and a son and have been blessed with 4 grandsons and 2 “bonus” grandchildren from her son-in-law.

 

Her first book, Hindsight is 2020: Torah Lessons from a Turbulent Time was published in November 2023. It is based on a year-long study of the Torah written during the pandemic. Written in the style of a journal, there is an entry for each Aliyah of every parashah of the Torah. The entries are dated and titled and reflect not only the parashah but also the events of the turbulent year during which they were written (the year of Covid 19, as well as social and political unrest in the country). Through writing in a very approachable style, Rabbi Cella makes the Torah accessible to all. Many people refer to it for assistance in writing divrei Torah. Rabbi Cella is also writing a book based on her life story, including her journey to Judaism together with her husband, and her journey from there to the rabbinate.