Micah Greenstein
Rabbi Greenstein has served Temple Israel, Memphis’ historic 165-year-old synagogue, for close to three decades, sustaining its position as the largest congregation in Tennessee and the Deep South. Reflecting Temple Israel’s commitment to serving the greater community, Greenstein was recognized as this magazine’s first “Memphian of the Year” in 2013. Greenstein was the first rabbi to preach at the Washington Cathedral on a Major State Day for Tennessee in 2005. Other notable honors include receiving the Memphis City Council’s Humanitarian Award in 2011, the President’s Humanitarian Award in 2012 by Memphis Theological Seminary, and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Be The Dream Legacy Award in 2016. On a national level, he was named one of America’s Top 50 Rabbis in 2012 and 2013 by Newsweek/The Daily Beast. Greenstein served as two-time president of the Memphis Ministers Association, on the national board of the NAACP, and as an executive committee member of the National Civil Rights Museum, where he continues to serve on its board of directors. In 2019 Leadership Memphis named him one of 40 Change Makers for this city.
