Rabbi Julie Gordon

Rabbi Julie K. Gordon

Rabbi Julie K. Gordon is passionate about welcoming people into active Jewish life and building community. She is devoted to serving God and the Jewish people, teaching Torah to adults and students, leading services, and guiding meaningful life cycle celebrations.

Rabbi Julie is an active member of Kol Ami, the Northern Virginia Reconstructionist Congregation in Arlington, VA, where she volunteers as a rabbi and co-chairs the Adult Education Committee.

She earned a Master of Arts in Hebrew Literature and was ordained at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in New York City in 1984. She has served as rabbi of Conservative congregations in Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY, and Green Bay, WI, and spent 14 years as rabbi at the Temple of Aaron in St. Paul, MN.

A creative and innovative Jewish educator, Rabbi Julie served as Spiritual Life Director at the Heilicher Minneapolis Jewish Day School and as Director of the Talmud Torah of St. Paul’s Afternoon and Hebrew High Schools.

In 2010–2012, she earned a Master of Jewish Education from Hebrew College in Boston and a Certificate of Advanced Jewish Studies from the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem.

She later directed the Torah School at Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda, MD, and served as Rabbi Educator at Hill Havurah in Washington, DC, where she launched their Yavneh education program on Zoom just two weeks into the pandemic. Most recently, she has begun serving as a rabbi at senior living residences.

Rabbi Julie lives in Falls Church, VA, with her partner Jeremy Epstein, a cybersecurity expert with the Georgia Tech Research Institute. She is the proud ema of two adult children, Shoshana and Ari, who share a home in Washington, DC.

She enjoys planning Jewish cultural programs, spending time with her children and friends, practicing yoga, reading, creating jewelry and mosaics, and traveling—with Jeremy and on special annual trips with Shoshana.