Rabbis Nadya and Victor Gross
Rabbis Nadya and Victor Gross are deeply committed to the creation
of a conscious holy community. They received joint Rabbinic Smicha from
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and the P'nai Or religious fellowship in
1998, recognizing their unique relationship paradigm
Reb Victor earned his BA in History while living and studying for four
years at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, CA in preparation to
enter the Jewish Theological Seminary Rabbinical School. He then spent
three years in New York and one in Israel as a Rabbinical student. While
in Israel, he also studied Contemporary Jewish History & Thought
at the Hebrew University, and did research on the Holocaust at Yad
Vashem. After leaving the Seminary, he returned to Los Angeles where he
completed an MA in Social & Philosophic Foundations of Education;
then later on to U.C. Berkeley where he earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy of
Education. His dissertation: Educating for Reverence: the Educational
Philosophy of Abraham Joshua Heschel, was published by Windham
Hall Press.
During his years in school, Victor was a teacher and youth activities
coordinator in various Conservative Movement synagogues, and a counselor
and director of Jewish camp programs. He also held High Holiday pulpits
and was a much sought after speaker for Jewish organizations. While
living in Israel in the late '70s, Victor was a lecturer in the Education
Department at Haifa University.
Reb Victor serves on the Academic Vaad for the ALEPH Rabbinic Program
and is the past Vice President of OhaLaH: The Association of Rabbis
for Jewish Renewal. He teaches courses in Jewish Philosophy and Jewish
History to rabbinic students.
Reb Nadya completed a BA in the department of Near Eastern Studies
at U.C. Berkeley with an emphasis on Rabbinic and Modern Hebrew
literature. She then earned an MA in Sociology of Education, also at
Cal. Before entering university, Nadya was trained in Hazzanut with
her Cantor in southern California. Years later, her passions led her to
train in past life therapy, Soul Memory Discovery, childbirth education
and labor support, before entering the ALEPH Rabbinic Program.
During her undergraduate years, Nadya was a Hebrew School teacher
and youth activities coordinator in various Conservative Movement
synagogues. She also worked in Jewish camp programs. When she and Victor
moved to Israel together, she worked for the Ministry of Education
and as a counselor and English department head in an agricultural
high school. Upon returning to California, Nadya went into school
administration, first as the founding director of a Hebrew day school,
then directing a synagogue education program. She left to join Victor on
the pulpit, as Cantor of the Conservative Synagogue where he was serving
as Rabbi. At the same time, she began to develop her own consulting
practice.
Reb Nadya recently created a program to train volunteers to provide end
of life spiritual support for families where someone is dying, and formed
the End-of-Life Doula Association in cooperation with the Boulder JCC.
She is the Associate Director of Hashpa'ah: Spiritual Direction, an
ALEPH Ordination Program, and transmits the feminine Kabbalah taught to
her by her Israeli grandmother. Together, Rabbis Victor and Nadya serve as co-Directors of Ruach
Ha'Aretz, ALEPH's Mobile Retreat Center. They have recently joined with
Rabbi Ori Har DiGennaro to found the Center for Spiritual Friendship in
Boulder, offering Spiritual Direction to individuals, couples and groups,
as well as unique programs for spiritual inquiry and growth.
Rabbi Nadya and Rabbi Victor bring to their community-building
work a spiritual and professional partnership of over 36 years. They
have taught and offered counseling together, created communities in
Israel, Los Angeles, Berkeley and Boulder, studied and grown together
Jewishly/spiritually, shared the gift of four beautifully awesome
children, and are always learning what it means to be two halves of
a whole - experiencing the joy and the responsibility that comes with
that reality each and every day. They complement one another, weaving
a tapestry of their individual strengths and abilities. Victor brings
to every shayla (question) or experience a thorough grounding in our
Sources and Jewish history, while Nadya is more intuitive. Both are
passionate teachers, and are particularly engaging when teaching together.
To contact the Rabbis send email to
rabbis@pardeslevavot.org.
Please visit our website at:
www.pardeslevavot.org.
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