Rabbi James Feder came to Temple Ner Tamid in 2022 as a rabbinic intern. Following his ordination from Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in 2025, he joined the clergy team full time as the first Assistant Rabbi in the congregation’s history, reflecting Ner Tamid’s continued growth and vibrancy. 

As Assistant Rabbi, Rabbi James leads services, officiates at lifecycle events, and serves as a central educator in the community. He teaches in the Religious School, with a focus on teen engagement, and leads a range of adult learning opportunities, including an Adult B’nei Mitzvah course, programs for young professionals in their 20s and 30s, and a monthly Tish Torah study. He is also the primary clergy contact for those exploring conversion and for members seeking to engage in social justice initiatives. 

Originally from Park Slope, Brooklyn, Rabbi James grew up primarily in Abington, Pennsylvania. He earned degrees in Early Modern Scottish History from the Universities of St Andrews and Glasgow. After graduating, he worked in journalism before turning to Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolution, eventually making aliyah in 2018. While at HUC-JIR, he was a Tisch Fellow, an NIF Elissa Froman Fellow, and a Be Wise Fellow, and served as the rabbinical intern at Finchley Progressive Synagogue in London in the summer of 2024. 

Rabbi James’s writing has appeared in Kirkus Reviews, The London Evening Standard, The Forward, BuzzFeed, Haaretz, Vice News, Attitude, Hello Mr., the Lambda Literary Review, Ritualwell, and publications of the CCAR and ARJ. 

Raised in a culturally Jewish interfaith home, it wasn’t until his mid-twenties that Rabbi James began to discover what Judaism had to offer. He aims to share the sense of wonder, excitement, and playfulness he has found within Jewish tradition with his congregants and students, hoping to provide them with the vibrant, vital, and resonant Judaism he would have loved to find earlier in life. As a rabbi, he strives to be among the disciples of Aaron—loving peace, pursuing peace, loving people, and drawing them close to Torah (Pirkei Avot 1:12). 

Rabbi James lives in Jersey City, where he enjoys reading, cooking, walking, and drinking coffee. 

Rabbi Feder can be reached at Rabbijfeder@nertamid.org.