About Me

My name is Deborah Goldberg and I am a fifth-year rabbinical student at HUC-JIR in Cincinnati, Ohio.

I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago (ask me about deep-dish pizza).  I spent my summers as a camper, staff member, and unit head at URJ Camp Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.  I returned to camp as the summer program director for two summers during rabbinical school.  Camp was the place where I fell in love with Judaism, with Jewish community, and with Jewish learning.  At camp, each day feels like a week and each week feels like a year, and yet the summer goes by in the blink of an eye.

I attended Washington University in St. Louis, where I studied history and political science.  I loved my small classes and getting to immerse myself in books and articles.  Throughout college, I also served on the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life Steering Committee.  During my senior year, I was the co-chair of our event, where we raised over $200,000 for cancer research.

During my first year out of college, I served as an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant (LA) at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC). As an LA, I was responsible for several policy areas, including Israel, gun violence prevention, and disability rights. I also helped run the RAC’s L’taken Social Justice Seminars. I then went to work for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs in Chicago, Illinois, running their teen social justice program.   After three years of working for Jewish organizations, I packed my bags and flew to Israel to begin my journey to the rabbinate.

In Israel, I spent the year learning Hebrew and diving deep into my studies.  I explored Israeli culture with my wonderful classmates (the falafel place down the street from HUC knew our orders) and learned with incredible professors.  The last four years in Cincinnati have also been full of inspiring classes, internships, and friendships. 

During my time at HUC, I have served student pulpits in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Sandusky, Ohio.  For the past 18 months, I have served as the rabbinic intern at Congregation Beth Tikvah in Worthington (Columbus), Ohio.  I feel so lucky to have been mentored by numerous colleagues and supervisors over the past several years. 

Throughout my entire life, my family has been a constant source of support and encouragement. My dad and sister still live in Chicago and have been my cheerleaders throughout rabbinical school.  This past spring, I started fostering a beagle named Kelly, who very quickly became an integral part of my family!  When I’m not working or studying, you can find me hiking through a national park or curled up on the couch reading a good book.