Professors: Rabbi Julie Danan

Julie Hilton Danan is an instructor in Modern Jewish Studies and Religious Studies at California State University, Chico, where she teaches Hebrew language and Jewish studies courses. She received an independent Rabbinic ordination through ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal in July of 2000, and serves as spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel in Chico. Previously she was spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Am (JRF) in San Antonio, an instructor at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, Texas, and an instructor for the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School in San Antonio. Rabbi Danan received her M.A. in Hebrew Studies, with a major in Rabbinic Literature and a minor in Biblical Literature, from the University of Texas at Austin in 2000, and is currently pursuing her doctorate in Hebrew Studies through the same program. She wrote her thesis on, "Between Earth and Heaven-Elijah the Prophet in Rabbinic Literature," and for her doctoral research is studying the topic of "Ruah Hakodesh" or "Holy Spirit," in the Aggadic literature of the Amoraic period. She received a B.A. with honors in English Literature from Tel Aviv University and also studied in the Combined Judaic Studies major for Israeli students at Bar-Ilan University, and in the Plan II honors program at the University of Texas.

Rabbi Danan is the author of "The Jewish Parents' Almanac" (Jason Aronson, 1994) and has written about Jewish religious observance for over two dozen Jewish and general publications. Her interests as a rabbi include Jewish education, public speaking, Pastoral Care (as an AAPC Pastoral Care Specialist) and interfaith dialogue (she was co-founder of the Palestinian-Jewish Dialogue of San Antonio). A non-traditional student, Rabbi Danan embarked on her graduate and professional training in her thirties, as the mother of five.

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