PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Congregation Emanu El, Houston, TX – 2017-Present
Associate Rabbi, July 2020-Present | Assistant Rabbi, June 2017-June 2020
Collaborate as part of a dynamic, four-member clergy team serving a 1,600-family, urban congregation to further the synagogue’s mission to be a visible and consequential force on the spiritual, moral, intellectual, and cultural life of the city. Design and lead dynamic worship, transformative social justice organizing, and meaningful education to make a substantial impact on members’ lives and to meet the diverse needs of a multigenerational community.
Making meaning through worship and ritual
Collaborate with clergy and lay and professional musicians to create dynamic, joyful, lively, and relevant worship experiences on Shabbat and holidays.
Developed and continue to lead “Warehouse Shabbat,” a quarterly, off-site service that engages unaffiliated and underserved Jews, combining ancient wisdom, modern ideas, and eclectic melodies to answer some of life’s most urgent questions.
Invited to the 2024 Hava Nashira Jewish Songleader Conference to present “Warehouse Shabbat: Playing with Prayer for Adults.”
Craft topical, engaging sermons, divrei Torah, and iyyunei t’filah to inspire worshipers to think and feel differently.
Develop dynamic and beautiful visual t’filah for a variety of services for youth and adults.
Instituted a weekly d’var t’filah at Saturday morning chapel service to deepen participants’ relationship with the prayerbook.
Created alternative High Holy Day experiences to help congregants find greater meaning, including Rosh Hashanah Unplugged, parallel programming for 3-5th graders, and a “Variety Hour” that incorporates congregant voices and artistic expressions to examine the holiday Haftarah readings.
Led the development of a comprehensive $500,000 improvement plan for worship technology to broaden accessibility and deepen connection.
Managed the move to online worship during the pandemic and led the creation of new ways for congregants to engage in meaningful prayer.
Meet individually with all B’nai Mitzvah students to help them craft their divrei Torah and find personal connection to the Torah.
Prioritize spending time with and getting to know families to create meaningful and personalized lifecycle rituals, including funerals, weddings, conversions, and baby naming/covenanting rituals.
Shaping communities and building belonging through transformative social justice
Established and continue to support a community organizing committee by identifying and developing leaders, conducting house meetings that have engaged more than 200 congregants to-date, and designing campaigns, including:
Emanu El Votes – using powerful civic engagement strategies, including organizing volunteers to call more than 500 member households, to significantly increase the percentage of congregants who voted over the last four election cycles.
Sacred Belonging – addressing implicit bias within our congregation and in the world; creating a new congregation-wide vision of belonging through engagement with staff, leadership and congregants.
Neurodivergence Inclusion – working with Religious School families to improve resources for and attention to a wide range of students.
Connect the congregation to the broader community through deepening partnerships with local and national non-profits, including Texas Impact, Texas Freedom Network, SEARCH Homelessness Services, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Religious Action Center, and National Council of Jewish Women.
Received National Council of Jewish Women Houston, Robin Perlo Berry NextGen Leadership Award, 2023
Established a broad and diverse pipeline of leaders by engaging them in the community, developing their leadership skills, deepening their sense of ownership, and connecting them to each other.
Building connection through learning opportunities and engaging programming
Designed and taught a high school curriculum on Jewish ethical decision making as part of a highly successful Upper School program, which engages about 100 students annually.
Supervise and partner with the Assistant Director for Youth and Young Adults, who directs the Upper School and facilitates a Teen Teaching Assistant program with more than 90 participants.
Develop engaging adult educational opportunities, including weekly Torah study, Basic Judaism classes for 20-40 students per year, and Board meeting divrei Torah.
Plan and accompany members on travel opportunities including trips for teens (biannual Israel trips, confirmation retreats, and L’taken seminars in Washington DC), young adults (Memphis, New Orleans, and Israel), and adults (Prague, Vienna, and Budapest).
Generate young professionals’ programming focusing on depth, meaning, and connection, with popular programs including The Art of the Celebrity Apology, Torah on Tap, JED Talks, and Lies I Heard in Religious School: the REAL story of Hanukkah.
Created Motherhood Together, a weekly group for new moms to find community and support, with loving guidance from a post-partum doula and regular clergy engagement.
Beth Haverim Shir Shalom, Mahwah, NJ
Rabbinic/Community Organizing Intern – 2015-2017
Led community organizing initiatives, taught, and worked with clergy team to plan and lead worship at 500-member community.
Temple Micah, Washington, DC
Tisch Fellowship Summer Residency – Summer 2015
Shadowed Rabbi Zemel through daily pastoral and programmatic activities.
Expanded the Elul journaling program by introducing new social media elements.
Consulted on the redesign of the synagogue’s website.
Shwayder Camp of Temple Emanuel, Idaho Springs, CO
Senior Jewish Educator – Summer 2014
Created an innovative t’filah education curriculum.
Empowered counselors to build dynamic Jewish education programs.
Designed a new camp prayer book, integrating traditional prayers with camper artwork and writing.
Temple B’nai Shalom, Fairfax Station, VA
Assistant Educator & Youth Director – 2009-2012
Served on the education staff of 350-member congregation.
Developed new curricula for the Hebrew school and 8th and 9th grade religious studies.
Created engaging family education programs.
Coordinated three youth groups for grades 5-12; advised senior youth group board.
Led the development of a strategic, synagogue-wide, technology plan and the design of the synagogue’s new website.
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom, Washington, DC
Program Coordinator – 2007-2009
Coordinated the logistics and programming for seven grassroots-advocacy conferences, training more than 200 young adults in community organizing and faith-based advocacy.
Supervised 20 campus organizing interns.
COMMUNAL LEADERSHIP
Houston Rabbinical Association – Vice President, 2022-Present
Religious Action Center of Texas – Founding Steering Committee member, 2018; Rabbinic Co-Chair, 2021-Present
Faith Leaders Coalition of Houston – Steering Committee, 2018-2023; President, 2019-2023
Religious Action Center Commission on Social Action – CCAR Representative, 2023-Present
URJ Greene Family Camp – Summer Faculty, 2018-Present; Curriculum Development Committee, 2022-2023
Honeymoon Israel – Rabbinic Educator for Houston’s first two trips in 2022 and 2024
Religious Communities for Reproductive Choice – Board member & Treasurer, 2022-Present
National Council of Jewish Women – Rabbis for Repro Advisory Board, 2022-Present
EDUCATION
Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, New York, NY
Rabbinic Ordination, May 2017 | Master of Arts in Hebrew Literature, May 2016
Thesis: From Strength to Strength: The Impact of Interim Rabbis on Rabbinic Transitions.
Awards: Irving & Molly P. Cohen Memorial Prize in Midrash, 2016 | Rabbi Bernard M. Cohen Award in Ecumenical Studies, 2016 | Elisa Brickner Memorial Prize, 2016 | Gavi Klonsky Award for “Amitz Lev,” 2015 | Martin Berman Memorial Prize in Philosophy, 2014 | Anselm Rothschild Memorial Prize in Talmud, 2014 | David G. Sacks Scholarship Prize for General Academic Excellence, 2014 | Rabbi Jason Huebsch Prize for Excellence in Community Service, 2013 | Dr. Irwin E. Vinnik Fellow for Advanced Study in Israel, 2013
New York University – Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
Advanced Professional Certificate in Management for Public & Nonprofit Organizations, December 2016
University of Maryland, College Park
Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Development & Community Leadership, May 2007
Thesis: Strategic Management in the American Synagogue.
FELLOWSHIPS & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
18Doors – Rukin Rabbinical Fellowship on Inclusion for Interfaith Families — 2022-2024
Developed a deeper understanding of the needs of interfaith and Jewish+ families and introduced programs at Congregation Emanu El to meet those needs, including Couples and Conversation, a series of dinners for engaged and newly married couples.
Bonnie and Daniel Tisch Rabbinical Fellow — 2014-2017
Explored the future of the American Synagogue through a unique, interdisciplinary approach, incorporating interactions with religious leaders and artists of a variety of faiths.
Wexner Graduate Fellow — 2012-2016
Developed skills of visionary leadership through interactions with world-class faculty and fellows from diverse backgrounds.
Be Wise Jewish Entrepreneurship Fellow — 2014-2015
Co-created a day of learning on the use of technology as a community-building tool for synagogues. Designed an experimental t’filah service incorporating various methods of digital participation.
JOIN for Justice: Seminary Leadership & Organizing Course — 2013
Developed community organizing skills for the purpose of animating communities and achieving social change.
Shalom Hartman Institute, Rabbinical Student Seminar — 2012-2013
Engaged with diverse topics related to Israel, Jewish life, and Jewish texts in a pluralistic learning environment.
PUBLICATIONS
“Opinion: Why I’m suing to keep the Ten Commandments out of my kids’ classrooms,” Houston Chronicle, August 2025
“The Rehumanizing Project: A Jewish Response to Artificial Intelligence,” E-Jewish Philanthropy, April 2025
“Opinion: We are rabbis who think Texas' school voucher bill undermines religious freedom,” Austin American Statesman, Co-Author with Rabbi Eleanor Steinman, April 2025
“Ask the Rabb-AI,” Sinai and Synapses, September 2023
“Stricken from the Text: Sacred Stories of Reproductive Justice,” The Social Justice Torah Commentary, CCAR Press, Co-Author with Rabbi Emily Langowitz, 2021
“The Quarantine Reviewed,” Sinai and Synapses, September 2021
“Opinion: I’m a rabbi, and abortion is a religious right,” Houston Chronicle, February 2021
“The Deposition of Rabban Gamliel: A Rabbinic Transition,” The Reform Judaism Quarterly, Spring 2019
“Your Synagogue’s Strategic Plan is Missing Something,” E-Jewish Philanthropy, May 2016.
“Using Social Media in Your Volunteer Engagement Strategy,” E-Volunteerism, July 2009.
INTERESTS
Jewish Folklore – Teach classes about Jewish ghost stories and Jewish superheroes. Owner of what is believed to be the world’s largest collection of Golem books and memorabilia.
Theater – Authored a blog for 20’s and 30’s about DC arts and culture.
Poetry – Interested in the intersection between poetry and liturgy. Led a creative service at HUC-JIR integrating modern American poetry into prayer.