Rabbi Leila Gal Berner, Ph.D., D.Min. h.c.

Chair of the Jewish History Department, Director of Studies, Member of the Academic VAAD.

Reb Leila (she/her) was ordained at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and also received ordination from R’ Zalman Schachter-Shalomi z”l. She makes Jewish History come alive with her extensive background in her doctoral area of medieval Jewish history from UCLA. She was a Fulbright scholar and spent extensive time in Spain researching the Jewish history of the Spanish Reconquista. She has published widely on the creation of new feminist rituals and is a pioneer in Jewish contemplative practice, authoring the seminal book, Listening to the Heart of Genesis: A Contemplative Path.

She was the spiritual leader of Kol Ami: The Northern Virginia Reconstructionist Community in Arlington, Virginia and is now rabbi emerita. She was the Founding Director of the Center for Jewish Ethics at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She taught at Reed College, Swarthmore College and Emory University, and was for a decade Scholar-in-Residence in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at American University in Washington D.C.