פְּתַח לִבִּי בְּתורָתֶךָ וּבְמִצְותֶיךָ תִּרְדּף נַפְשִׁי
Open my heart to Your Torah, may my soul seek Your instruction —Berakhot 17b
רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֵךְ
Great is Your faith in me.
—Modeh Ani Blessing
From a young age, Josie found connection to the divine through song, dance and storytelling. She first learned biblical stories and Jewish history working on theatre productions like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Fiddler on the Roof. Her work in theater taught her about the power of communal creation, the beauty of many people coming together to build something greater than their individual parts.
Josie’s path to the rabbinate was shaped over her three years living in Jerusalem, where she split her time between Torah study and co-resistance with Palestinian communities in Masafer Yatta. Through her work with All That’s Left: Anti-Occupation Collective and the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, Josie learned about building sustainable movements for collective liberation grounded in acts of community care. In Jerusalem, she co-founded Boneh Yerushalayim, an egalitarian anti-Zionist minyan which centers liberatory prayer practice as an essential tool for changing the world.
Josie studied in Yashrut’s Classic Talmud Program and spent a summer studying in Edinburgh at Azara, the United Kingdom’s first cross-communal yeshivah. Before training for the rabbinate, Josie graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in theater, and worked as a stage manager in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
Josie believes in the power of ritual and liturgy to carry us through celebration, struggle and uncertainty. Through text study, Josie discovered a love of bringing her contemporary perspective into ancient conversations that span across time and space. In her rabbinate, Josie seeks to expand who is given access to be part of these conversations. Josie strives to lead communities where people understand their obligation to one another as a way to honor the holiness present in everyday life.
Josie is endlessly grateful to HaKodesh Barukh Hu, the Holy Blessed One, for bringing her to this moment. She offers abundant thanks to her teachers, hevrutot, family, friends and loved ones who supported her in reaching this day.
קָר֥וֹב אֵלֶ֛יךָ הַדָּבָ֖ר מְאֹ֑ד בְּפִ֥יךָ וּבִֽלְבָבְךָ֖ לַעֲשֹׂתֽוֹ
The instruction I give is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it. — Devarim 30:14
Move at the speed of trust. — adrienne maree brown
