Email: [email protected]

Phone: (360) 896-8088 EXT 130

Hello CKA community! I’m Abner Deitle, the new Education Director, and it is truly a delight to be working for the Congregation. Here’s a little bit about me. I was born and raised in the Reform Jewish tradition, though not through totally traditional means. I spent the first years of my life at a congregation in Indiana, and when I was nine my family moved to a town called Bethel in rural Alaska. Lacking substantial clergy out in the bush, I studied for my Bar Mitzvah over the phone with my rabbi back in Indiana, where I completed the ceremony.

After that, the family made our way down to Portland, where I continued to study through high school at Congregation Beth Israel. I attended Loyola University New Orleans as a music major, and in some of my summers off I worked at URJ Camp Kalsman. I had been a camper at another URJ camp for 8 years growing up, so connecting with a similar community in the Northwest made me feel right at home. After some summers away I returned to Kalsman in 2019 and 2021, where I met Rabbi Dunsker and she graciously offered me this position. So here I am, and everyone I’ve met here has been so kind and helpful with the transition, which makes me all the more excited to work with and join this community.