Funder Profile: Robin Kosberg and Rachel Elkin

Robin Kosberg and Rachel Elkin protest p

"We were always taught that we had been given enormous privilege in our lives and it was incumbent upon us as Jews to make the world a little better for others."

—Rachel Elkin, Emergent Giver

Robin Kosberg is very proud of her two grown daughters, Hannah, who is a rabbinical student at HUC-LA, and Rachel, a women’s rights attorney.

A few years ago, when Rachel returned to Dallas to attend law school, she rejoined her childhood synagogue, Temple Emanu-El and was introduced to their social justice work. The more she did, the deeper the connection she felt toward her Jewish community and her family.

“That was the path that led me to Emergent Givers. I was very intrigued to be involved, mostly because I had watched my mom and grandparents and great-aunt be so involved with the URJ for literally decades.”

“It’s in our DNA,” said Robin Kosberg, “I (too) am the product of L’Dor Vador.”

“Getting more involved in social justice as I was going through law school helped expose me to a wide variety of causes, including immigration and gun reform, both through the lenses of gender-based violence. I would say that those are important causes to my mom as well, but I'll also freely brag that I opened my mom to those issues!”

Robin is thrilled that Rachel found her passion in social justice. “I want her to have her own place (in Jewish philanthropy).” She notes “kids really do absorb what their parents model.”

Robin Kosberg serves on the URJ’s North American Board as a District Trustee. She is a former President of Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, Texas. Rachel Elkin is an Emergent Giver, whose members contribute financial resources, time, and energy to support the URJ and its social justice endeavors.