Eli Rose Kukla

abbi Eli Rose Kukla was ordained as a rabbi by Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles in 2006. In addition to working with the DJC, Eli is currently the Director of Education of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) in New York City.

Eli has offered award-winning educational programs to help synagogues and Jewish community groups become more welcoming spaces for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, interfaith, low-income and people of color across the US and Canada. Eli recently completed a rabbinic thesis on gender diversity in Jewish antiquity and has taught adults about sex and gender in classical Jewish texts in Israel, Canada and the US. As a rabbinical student Eli served congregations in Texas, Los Angeles and West Hollywood, and worked as the rabbinic organizer of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) in LA.

Eli received a Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters from Hebrew Union College and a B.A. in World Religions and Fine Art from the University of Toronto. Before coming to rabbinical school Eli was a freelance writer in Toronto. She has studied Jewish texts and spirituality at numerous institutions across the Jewish religious spectrum. Eli was trained in Peace Education with Israeli and Palestinian educators at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Israel and in Congregation Based Community Organizing by Interfaith Worker Justice in Chicago, and the Jewish Funds for Justice in New York City. Eli is a member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR).

Eli currently lives in both Brooklyn and Toronto.

For more information: info@djctoronto.com
To reach Eli: rabbi@djctoronto.com

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