Elana was recently ordained as a rabbi at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute for Religion in Los Angeles, CA. She received a Master’s in Educational Leadership (MEdL) from the Rhea Hirsch School of Education in 2022. Elana has lived all over the West Coast-she grew up in California and Arizona and went to college in Tacoma, Washington. Her love of Judaism was nurtured through her family’s weekly Shabbat dinners with her grandparents and through her experiences in religious school and attending Jewish theater summer camp. Elana graduated from the University of Puget Sound with a Bachelor of Science in Natural Sciences (Biology emphasis) and minor in Science, Technology, and Society. After graduating, she worked in the medical technology startup space before realizing that she needed more spirituality and Judaism in her day-to-day life. After leaving the tech world, Elana taught preschool in San Francisco and then moved to Israel, which she had dreamed of living in ever since going on Birthright, and taught English to 1st through 6th graders.
During her time at the Hebrew Union College, Elana has prioritized learning how to serve the needs of her communities and tackling new challenges within those communities. Elana’s rabbinic work is grounded in her love of teaching, desire to create space for congregant’s experiences, and her love of Torah and learning. Currently, Elana works to make Judaism meaningful for college students as the rabbinic intern at the Loyola Marymount University Hillel in Los Angeles. In her free time, she loves to try new coffee shops, experiment with new recipes, and play guitar and sing. She is so excited to join the Beth Israel community and is looking forward to calling San Diego home!