Around six years ago, Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel’s youth engagement and digital content director, Lee Slobotkin, worked in the KI building, but didn’t work for KI.

He was down the hall with Melrose B’nai Israel Emanu-El, a smaller shul that was, at the time, renting space in the Elkins Park synagogue.

He was just filling in at Melrose B’nai Israel Emanu-El, but his talents were noticed by the larger shul at the other end of the building.

“There was an administrative worker that went on hospice, and I temporarily filled in for her. [Melrose B’nai Israel Emanu-El] was my aunt and uncle’s congregation. And I’m a millennial that knows how to use the computer, so I was happy to fill in there, and [Facilities Coordinator] Naomi [Godel] and [Executive Director] Brian Rissinger at KI sort of got hip to my skills, and also were wonderful about training me when I went to the other end of the building,” he said.

Now, six years after being recruited to Keneseth Israel, Slobotkin wears many hats at the synagogue, although the aforementioned title is how he spends most of his time. Usually, he can be found managing the shul’s outward-facing content and mentoring and teaching youths of all ages who attend school there.

“I do a lot of different things in this role, from making sure that all of our kids are signed up and taking them on amazing trips to Washington, D.C., to lobby for our constituents to preserve our rights, to going to New York to see a Broadway show with our 10th grade confirmation kids,” Slobotkin said. “I just love that I get to do so many different things in this job and flex a lot of different talents. It’s very challenging, especially with the times that we’re living in for the Jewish community, but it’s really fulfilling and meaningful work, and I’m honored that I get to do it.”

As far as the digital content director part of the role goes, Slobotkin says it comes back to the function of a synagogue. Yes, it’s a house of prayer, but it’s more than that, too.

“It’s also a community center, and social media and the website in particular are such important tools for any business in this day and age, and your blueprint out there is what you have on your website and everything that you post,” Slobotkin said. “So it’s very important that we keep it up to date and fresh and progressive, and as vibrant and contemporary as everything is at KI.”

As Slobotkin knows, that mission is especially challenging today, as antisemitism skyrockets and Jewish communities work as hard as ever to maintain safety and security for their members. That’s something that always comes into play at KI.

The synagogue doesn’t publish passwords to Zoom programming, they have thorough RSVP systems to track who is coming to and from events, and they work with hired security to make sure everything is as safe as can be. Not long ago, Keneseth Israel shut down commenting on its weekly blog posts due to a mixture of spam and harassment.

Working with the KI students is even more rewarding for Slobotkin, although it doesn’t come without stress, too. Between rising antisemitism, the COVID-19 pandemic affecting schooling and constant overexposure to media, he said that Jewish children today have a lot to contend with.

“The best I can do is just be a shoulder and a sounding board and a voice of the wisdom that I have [learned] in my few years on this planet, and just lead with kindness and love, because there’s so much hatred out there,” Slobotkin said. “All we can do is just continue to be kind and gentle.”

The attention that Slobotkin pays to the KI community is made even more impressive when you consider that he has another career, too: Slobotkin is an actor who has been a part of the nationally touring “Wicked” show as well as the Broadway showing of “Book of Mormon.”

Success in the world of theater has helped Slobotkin at Keneseth Israel, too. Just like on the stage, he needs to be ready at a moment’s notice at KI to be able to pivot.

“I filled in playing the lead on Broadway, and now I fill in for the clergy — when they can’t do services, I’m singing for the cantor,” Slobotkin said. “So it’s very, very wonderful how I’ve gotten to use a lot of my different skills at KI since I started there in 2019.”

Slobotkin is intimately involved in so much at Keneseth Israel, but he still finds time to be Jewish on his own accord, too. Whether it’s cooking family recipes or joining in song at services on off days, he said that he enjoys spending so much time in his community.

“I do Judaism 365 days a year,” he said.

aguckes@midatlanticmedia.com