Rachel, her husband Mike and their daughters have been a part of Beth Israel since 2018 when the girls first enrolled in the Lee & Frank Goldberg Family Religious School. Their commitment to CBI grew as their kids’ connections and friendships grew. After the spring of 2020, Rachel volunteered to lead a series of courageous conversations about race with Rabbi Nevarez and has since remained engaged and interested in the temple’s work of tikkun olam, participating as much as she can while raising three girls and working full-time. She also participated in the inaugural Dominican Republic service-learning trip and co-led the second trip with Rabbi Nevarez.
Professionally, Rachel is a lifelong educator and spent almost a dozen years in the classroom teaching elementary and high school students. She then spent nine years as an administrator for a highly alternative charter school that served young adults who had previously been pushed out of the traditional education system. Currently, she works for the San Diego County Office of Education in the Student Wellness and School Culture department, supporting schools across the county with suicide prevention and mental health promotion. Rachel and her family are avid travelers, readers, social justice advocates, beach-goers and campers. It was on a year-long RV trip where they first realized how much CBI meant to them while they were sitting squashed together on their RV sofa watching the live stream of the High Holy day services from the middle of Montana, very much missing their community. Since their return from that trip, they have re-committed and re-engaged in temple life and are forever grateful for the second home and safe space CBI provides.