CREVE COEUR • The pressure should be on Amy Feder this week.

Like all rabbis, she is facing what is perhaps the most demanding challenge of the year, leading her congregation through High Holy Days.

But the pressures are even greater for Feder, who will conduct the Rosh Hashanah service at Temple Israel tonight for the first time as senior rabbi.

And she will do it all at the age of 31.

Feder is the youngest woman to serve as senior rabbi of a Reform Jewish congregation in North America with 1,000 or more families. It's a daunting responsibility for someone with so little experience. But she has advantages.

For starters, this is a congregation Feder grew up in, along with her parents and grandparents. She also knows that when she steps up to the sanctuary bimah tonight, she has the full support of her husband, Rabbi Michael Alper. They are the only husband and wife rabbinic team serving the same congregation in St. Louis.

Typically, a senior rabbi is to have eight years' experience. Feder had about half that, serving as assistant rabbi at Temple Israel since 2006. But her lack of experience was not considered problematic by those heading the national search for a new leader to replace retiring Rabbi Mark Shook, who remains with the congregation as rabbi emeritus after 23 years as the temple's top leader.

"It was the inescapable conclusion of the committee, that as qualified and attractive as some of the candidates were, Rabbi Feder kind of blew them all away," said Cary Mogerman, a past president of Temple Israel and chairman of the search committee. Her depth of knowledge of Judaism and comfort in expressing its meanings was incredibly impressive, he said. "And we felt that if age is a factor, she was wise and capable beyond her years."

Mogerman said a natural concern during deliberations in selecting a new rabbi was that going with someone young and relatively inexperienced could be too much change. In the end, Feder won out there as well.

"Change is so much a part of the reform movement," Mogerman said.

Dr. David Weinstein, board president, said Feder had an uncanny ability to connect with people of all ages and spiritual levels.

"She understands the Generation X's and Y's as well as the baby boomers," Weinstein said. "She has a way of engaging with them at their own level and desire to be involved."

Mogerman and Weinstein said having a young family — Feder and Alper along with their toddler son — leading the congregation provided an accurate reflection of where Temple Israel was headed.

Feder said heading the congregation was a natural progression for her. Active in the congregation as a girl, Feder early on thought she would become a cantor. But as she studied Judaism more, becoming a rabbi made more sense, she said.

"I love to sing, talk and write. It just seemed a natural fit," she said.

In her two months since becoming senior rabbi, Feder has adopted a more informal style for her services. Music is more contemporary. So is the language in the prayer book. Dress is more casual. It's not unusual to see the new rabbi walking through the temple offices without shoes.

She prefers to lead a service without notes, leaving the pulpit to walk out into the congregation. And she is up for the challenge of getting young families engaged.

"We're in a situation now where young people don't feel the same pull that our parents and grandparents did," Feder said. Guilt and obligation are not tools that are effective any longer, she said.

"This is a generation that doesn't do things expected of them," Feder said.

Part of that is an acceptance of other faiths. Feder wants to build on Temple Israel's history of acceptance, she said.

That's comforting to JoAnne Levy, a board vice president married to a Catholic.

"Rabbi Feder continues that tradition of welcoming to interfaith families," Levy said. "That's been very important to my family."

Feder and Alper, 35, do not have adjoining offices, but they do work closely together, something they are accustomed to. The two met on the first day of rabbinical school in Israel in 2001 and became study partners. They married four years later. Alper most recently served as director of education at Central Reform Congregation in St. Louis.

Feder said she looked forward to working alongside her husband in helping shape the future of the temple in which she was raised.

"We're young and relatively inexperienced. It's exciting, and there is nothing to hold us back," Feder said. "People are ready for a paradigm shift, and we'll be on the forefront of that."

With all eyes on Feder tonight in a sanctuary that could swell to 1,600 people, Mogerman said he was confident Feder would handle the service like a veteran leader.

"We asked her in her interview if she was a little nervous — just to break the ice," Mogerman said. "She said: 'I'm not nervous. In fact, I've been preparing for this interview my whole life.' We thought that was kind of a compelling response."