- Education
- Congregational Experience
- Educational Experience
- Ritual Leader Experience
- Interfaith/Intercultural Experience
- Pastoral Care Experience
- Hillel Experience
- Camp Experience
- Israel Advocacy Experience
- Fellowships
- Original Curricula Developed
Education
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles, CA
- Rabbinic Ordination, 2025
- Masters of Arts in Hebrew Letters, 2024
- Rabbinic Thesis: “Transmitting Jewish Trauma: How Jews talk about the past is shaping the Jewish present and future”
Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, Los Angeles, CA
- Rabbinical Student, 2020-2023
University of California, Davis (2018), BA in Religious Studies
- Graduated Summa Cum Laude
- Received Honors Distinction from the Department of Religious Studies
- Senior Honors Thesis:“Jewish Community, It’s Something Deeper: ”A Study of Jewish Student Perspectives on Jewish Community
Congregational Experience
Rabbinic Intern, Temple Israel, Long Beach, CA, 2024-2025
- Lead organizer of 20s and 30s programming
- Mentor and work with Bnai Mitzvah students
- Curriculum mentor for religious school teachers
- Service and lifecycle officiation
- In charge of congregation’s online presence
- Develop and implement congregation wide programs
- Teach Intro to Judaism course and facilitate conversion cohort
Rabbinic Intern, Temple Emanu-El, San Diego, CA, 2023-2024
- Lead organizer of 20s and 30s programming
- Led monthly Shabbat services
- Developed and lead mental health related programming for religious school students and parents
- Delivered sermons and divrei Torah
Rabbinic Intern, Congregation Bet Haverim, Davis, CA, 2020-2021
- Taught 6th Grade Hebrew over Zoom
- Developed and taught curriculum called “Deep Dive into the Siddur” for adults
- B’nai Mitzvah tutor, both online and in person
- Led online Rosh Hashanah services
Student Rabbi, Temple Beth Israel, Redding, CA, 2019-2020
- Visited once a month for a full weekend and led High Holy Day Services
- Led Friday night and Saturday morning services, worked with conversion students, did pastoral counseling, taught adult education class, and ran youth group
Educational Experience
Founding Education Director, The Neighborhood Hebrew School, Los Angeles, CA, 2023-2025
- Lead educator at start-up pluralistic Hebrew school in the Pico Robertson neighborhood
- Design and execute Sunday afternoon immersive learning experiences for students and families
- Develop and implement Hebrew, prayer, and Jewish Life curriculum for 6-13 year olds
- Teach Advanced Hebrew and Jewish Life for 7-9 year olds
- Supervise high school age teaching assistants
- Engage in fundraising and promotional activity for the school
Jewish Educator, Congregation Bet Haverim, Davis, CA, 2016-2018
- 2016-2017 School Year
- 4th Grade Sunday School teacher
- 5th Grade Hebrew teacher
- Overnight children’s Shabbaton coordinator and leader
- Private Hebrew tutor
- 2017-2018 School Year
- 3rd/4th Grade Sunday School teacher
- 6th Grade Hebrew Teacher
Ritual Leader Experience
Service Leader, The Beverly Hills Carmel, Beverly Hills, CA, 2024
- Bi-weekly Shabbat service leader at retirement community in Beverly Hills
LA Program Ambassador, At The Well, Los Angeles, CA, 2023
- Organized monthly events for a Jewish women’s wellness organization all around the LA metro area
Mikveh Ritual Guide, American Jewish University, Los Angeles, CA, 2021-2022
- Guided people in conversion, gender affirmation, and miscellaneous mikveh rituals
- Helped maintain AJU Mikveh Database
- Helped with the administration of the AJU Mikveh
Interfaith/Intercultural Experience
Jewish Interfaith Minister, Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, 2024-2025
- Serve on the Interfaith Program Committee helping to plan diocese wide programs
- Advise the diocese on matters of Jewish interest
Co-Facilitator, NewGround: A Muslim Jewish Partnership for Change, Los Angeles, CA, 2023-2024
- Co-facilitate the NewGround high school program MAJIC (Muslims and Jews Inspiring Change)
- Lead retreats and monthly sessions aimed at building communication skills and relationships between Muslim and Jewish high school students in the Los Angeles area
- In charge of participant recruitment, logistics, and planning of sessions
Faith Rooted Organizer Intern, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, Los Angeles, CA, Summer 2022
- Met 1:1 with clergy from all faith backgrounds
- Turn out clergy for rallies, pickets, and meetings to provide prayer and solidarity with workers and immigrants
- Organized Jewish community of Sacramento to march with the United Farm Workers in their successful campaign to get Governor Newsom to sign AB 2183
Certified Sustained Dialogue Facilitator through the UC Davis Office of Campus Dialogue and Deliberation and the Sustained Dialogue Institute (Washington D.C.), 2016-2018
Co-Moderator, College of Engineering, UC Davis, Davis, CA, 2017
- Co-led weekly sustained dialogue series with students from the UC Davis College of Engineering’s Leadership in Engineering Advancement, Diversity and Retention program for the purpose of helping the college figure out how to best serve historically underserved students
Pastoral Care Experience
CPE Chaplain Intern, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, Summer 2023
- Provided compassionate pastoral care for patients, families, and staff
- Specialized in cancer, palliative, and hospice care
- Participated in 400 hours of clinical pastoral care work and education
CPE Chaplain Intern, UC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA, Summer 2021
- Provided compassionate pastoral care for patients, families, and staff at a Level I Trauma Center
- Participated in 400 hours of clinical pastoral care work and education
Hillel Experience
High Holy Day Service Leader, Stanford Hillel, Palo Alto, CA, 2023
- Served on the prayer leadership team for the entirety of the 5784 High Holy Day season
- Delivered sermons and did bulk of High Holy Day Torah and Haftarah readings
- Trained students in Torah and Haftarah readings
- Led teachings and creative rituals for students and community members
High Holy Day Service Leader, Texas Hillel, Austin, TX, 2022
- Acted as Rabbi and Cantor for 7 services over the course of the holidays for 50-70 college students and community members
- Responsible for crafting services that are meaningful for college students
Camp Experience
Assistant Jewish Program Director, Tawonga Jewish Community Corporation, San Francisco, CA, Summer 2017
- Created and led programs for individual bunks
- Created and led full unit programs around the Jewish theme for the summer
- Helped with Saturday morning Shabbat services
- Helped create and coordinate Shabbat afternoon programming
Counselor, Tawonga Jewish Community Corporation, San Francisco, CA, Summer 2016
- Responsible for the 24/7 care of 12-60 children ages 9-14
- Planned and led activities, backpacking trips, and Jewish services for ages 9-14
Israel Advocacy Experience
Co-President, J Street U at UC Davis, Davis, CA, 2017-2018
- Strategic planning, fundraising, programming, individual member recruitment and leadership development
- Attended regional and national workshops and conferences for leadership and strategic development
- Under my leadership, our chapter was recognized nationwide as the most successful and creative campus chapter
Fellowships
Building a Culture of Dialogue, Resetting the Table, 2025
Changemaker Fellow, NewGround: A Muslim Jewish Partnership for Change, Los Angeles, CA, 2022-2023
- Year-long fellowship that brings together Muslim and Jewish professionals in the LA area to build relationships, communication skills, and leadership skills around areas of shared concern for Muslims and Jews
Full Time Fellow, Drisha Institute Summer Kollel, Online, Summer 2020
- Studied Talmud and other Rabbinic Texts in an online cohort setting
Davek B’Tzedek Fellow, T’ruah, Israel/Palestine, September 2018-May 2019
- Received training in storytelling and social justice organizing
- Went on trips around Israel/Palestine learning about human rights issues in the region
Original Curricula Developed
“Prophets-in-Training,” 4th Grade Learners
“Deep Dive into the Siddur,” Adult Learners
“The Rabbis and Our Emotions,” Adult Learners
“Jewish Life in Jewish Time,” 2nd-3rd Grade Learners
“Wise Aging: Our Changing Relationships to Relationships,” Adult Learners
Rabbi Leah Julian 