SAN DIEGO (Press Release) –Beth Israel of San Diego named Jordana “Jordie” Gerson as its new assistant rabbi. She brings to Beth Israel a unique blend of traditional rabbinic work within congregations as well as energy and creative ideas on ways to engage with young adults.
Gerson recently completed a year as the Visiting Rabbinic Associate at Temple Emanu-el Beth Sholom in Montreal, Quebec. Prior to that, she served as Assistant Director and Campus Rabbi for the University of Vermont Hillel, and as Associate Rabbi and Senior Jewish Fellow at the Slifka Center Center for Jewish Student Life at Yale University.
Gerson, whose father is also a rabbi, did not make the decision to join the rabbinate until midway through her master’s degree program at Harvard Divinity School. She spent the summer between her first and second years exploring hospital chaplaincy as part of a Clinical Pastoral Education program at Massachusetts General Hospital. She worked on the transplant unit and general medical unit for patients with AIDS and cancer. Gerson felt it was the most powerful work she’d done.
Gerson went on to study at Hebrew Union College (HUC) in Jerusalem and New York City. During that time, she served at Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, Brooklyn; Congregation Rodeph Sholom on the Upper West Side; and the Edgar Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at New York University.
After working with college students and young adults with Hillel, Gerson decided she missed the gravity and diversity of the work she did in congregational settings, especially officiating at lifecycle events and providing pastoral care, and decided to transition to the congregational rabbinate.
At Beth Israel, Gerson will liaise with children in the preschool, religious school, and BITY youth program, as well as teach the confirmation class. She will also work on social action and caring community, and provide pastoral care to congregants, and officiate lifecycle events. Gerson is looking forward to developing new education and contemplative opportunities, including Jewish meditation and meditative hikes.
“We found an intelligent, warm, gentle person who genuinely enjoys engaging with teenagers and young adults,” said Rabbi Michael Berk of Beth Israel. “She will provide the necessary support our current clergy needs.”
Gerson is an accomplished writer and frequent blogger. She contributes regularly to Huffington Post, MyJewishLearning.com, Jewcy.com, and Lilith magazine. During her time in New York City, she sat on panels at Harvard Divinity School and served as a consultant for the Jewish museum. She’s also an outdoor enthusiast, and enjoys hiking, rock-climbing, running, surfing, paddle boarding, and gardening. She plans to weave her love of nature and meditation into her work at Beth Israel. She is also a ferocious reader and enjoys cooking (especially baking challah).
A Reform Jewish synagogue, Beth Israel is San Diego’s oldest and largest Jewish congregation. The synagogue recently celebrated its 150th anniversary and has a membership of about 1,200 families.
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Preceding provided by Congregation Beth Israel