Historic milestone for Wilmette synagogue as first woman becomes a permanent senior rabbi

Congregation Sukkat Shalom, Wilmette’s only Reform Jewish congregation, has appointed Allison Tick Brill as its first female permanent senior rabbi, according to The Record North Shore. She is the third person to hold the senior leadership role in the synagogue’s 31-year history, following Rabbis Emeritus Samuel Gordon and Brian Immerman.

Tick Brill, a Deerfield native now residing in Highland Park, began her leadership role on July 1 after serving at the synagogue since 2022 in a limited capacity. “I am honored and excited to become Sukkat Shalom’s senior rabbi,” she said in a statement, per The Record North Shore’s report, adding that she is committed to honoring the congregation’s first 30 years while building for the future.

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Diversity and interfaith ethos at the core

The congregation prides itself on being “profoundly diverse and open-minded,” with deep interfaith inclusion, according to Tick Brill and the Chicago Tribune. Its current president is a Catholic man, and its treasurer is a Mormon, the report confirmed—both married into Jewish families for decades and deeply committed to the synagogue.

“It is unusual to have the highest leadership roles members of other faiths,” Tick Brill said, per the Chicago Tribune, noting that such diversity “enhances our expression of Judaism and strengthens our tent”. She also highlighted her role as a newer model: a young woman in a high leadership position raising young children.

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Before joining Sukkat Shalom, Tick Brill served as assistant and associate rabbi at Congregation Emanu-El in New York and completed a pastoral care residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital, the website noted. She was ordained in 2014 by Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion and holds advanced degrees in Hebrew literature and psychology.

According to The Record North Shore, Sukkat Shalom President David Prosperi described her as “a compassionate leader and role model, an inspiring teacher, and someone who makes Jewish life both accessible and meaningful.”