Rabbi Nelly Altenburger, who served as spiritual leader and religious school director of Congregation B’nai Israel in Danbury for the past 14 years, is now the new rabbi at Congregation Adath Israel in Middletown.

Adath Israel, which merged with Temple B’nai Abraham in Meriden last July, has been without a full time rabbi for the past two years.

Altenburger, a native of Brazil, received her Bachelor degree in Hebrew Language and Literature from the University of Sao Paulo. She immigrated to the U.S. in 2001, received a Masters degree in Rabbinic Studies in 2004 from the Zeigler School of Rabbinic studies in Los Angeles, California, and was ordained in 2006. 

She succeeds Rabbi Seth Haaz, who is now senior rabbi at Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley, Pennsylvania.