Meet Our Clergy

Rabbi Julie Danan

Rabbi Julie Hilton Danan, PhD, joined Seaside Jewish Community on January 1, 2022, as the first, full-time religious leader in its 25-year history.

"I’m both honored and excited to serve Seaside Jewish Community,” Rabbi Danan says. “I look forward to getting to know all the members, and to pray, learn, celebrate, and build the community together as we embark on a new beginning."

Rabbi Danan served most recently as the rabbi for Pleasantville Community Synagogue in New York State. Prior to that, she spent 12 years as rabbi for Congregation Beth Israel in Chico, Calif., and before that served as rabbi at Congregation Beth Am in San Antonio, Texas.

A trained pastoral care specialist with extensive teaching, speaking, and presentation experience, Rabbi Danan has been part of the ALEPH Rabbinic Program, Core Faculty, since 2016. She was ordained through the ALEPH Rabbinic Program in 2000, and she earned a PhD in Hebrew Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2009. She is an author, a lecturer, and a nature photographer. She and her husband are relocating to the area.

“Seaside Jewish Community is fortunate to be joined by a great leader like Rabbi Julie Danan,” says Seaside President Joel Simon. “We are excited that she is on board. She is the perfect fit for our synagogue and for the larger community.”

Rabbi Danan says, “Interfaith work and community service are an important value at Seaside Jewish Community and have long been priorities for me as well. We can all do so much good when we go beyond our own walls and serve the community together with our neighbors of all faiths and backgrounds.”