Rabbi Josie B

From a young age, Rabbi 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 theatre taught her about the power of communal creation, the beauty of many people coming together to build something greater than their individual parts.

Rabbi Josie seeks to find holiness in the activities that make up our daily lives. She believes we build the change we want to see in the world through our personal interactions, understanding that small acts of compassion and kindness can set the stage for larger transformation.

Through her work with All That's Left: an anti-occupation activist collective, and the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, Rabbi Josie learned about building sustainable movements for collective liberation grounded in acts of community care. While living 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.

In addition to training for the rabbinate at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Rabbi Josie spent the last four years studying Talmud in Yashrut's Classic Talmud Program and spent a summer studying in Edinburgh at Azara, the United Kingdom's first cross-communal yeshiva. Before turning to the rabbinate, Rabbi 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.

Rabbi Josie believes in the power of ritual and liturgy to carry us through celebration, struggle, and uncertainty. Through text study, Rabbi Josie discovered a love of bringing her contemporary perspective into ancient conversations that span across time and space. Rabbi Josie seeks to expand who is given access to be part of these conversations.

Rabbi Josie lives in the North Valley with her wife, Elianna, their dog, Gertrude, and their cat, Dobry. When she's not at shul, you'll find her walking Gertrude along the acequia, baking, or catching up on reality TV.