Rabbi Peter Berg became the fifth senior rabbi of The Temple since 1895 in July 2008. Rabbi Berg is passionate about Jewish learning and meaningful worship, and he is an advocate for social change.
Prior to coming to The Temple, he served as rabbi of Temple Beth Or in Washington Township, New Jersey and as the Associate Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, Texas. Additionally, he served Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains, New York as a rabbinic intern and at Beth El Hebrew Congregation in Alexandria, Virginia, as its Youth Director.
He currently serves on the Boards of Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students (GEEARS), as well as URJ Camp Coleman Clergy Advisory Board. Rabbi Berg served on the editorial committee for the new machzor (High Holy Day Prayer Book) for the Central Conference of American Rabbis. He is a member of the Greater Atlanta Reform Clergy Association and immediate Past President of the Atlanta Rabbinical Association.
A native of Ocean Township, New Jersey, Rabbi Berg holds a degree in Education and Human Development, with a focus in human services, counseling and Judaic Studies from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He earned his M.A. in Hebrew Literature and his rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in New York and Jerusalem, where he was a Steinhardt Fellow. Rabbi Berg also holds a certificate in Chemical Dependency and Spiritual Counseling and is a trained Disaster, Fire and Police Chaplain. In 2009, Rabbi Berg was inducted into the College of Preachers at Morehouse College.
Rabbi Berg was a member of the 2012 Leadership Atlanta class and is an active member of the Downtown Atlanta Rotary. He was recently appointed to Georgia Commission on the Holocaust by the Governor. In 2013, Rabbi Berg was named by Newsweek and The Daily Beast as one of the top 50 most influential rabbis in the United States of America. He lives in Atlanta with his wife Karen Kerness, a teacher and tutor, and their three children.