Our Rabbi – Rabbi Rachel Dorit Goldberg
Rabbi Rachel Dorit Goldberg serves as the spiritual leader of Havurah Shir Hadash in Ashland, Oregon. Ordained in 2024 by the ALEPH Ordination Program (AOP), she represents the emergent generation of Jewish Renewal leadership. Her work weaves together decades of experience in education, healing arts, and spiritual facilitation, grounded in the core belief that learning, prayer, and community are transformative healing modalities for the soul.
Rabbi Rachel brings to her role more than fifteen years of cross-denominational congregational experience, including nearly ten years of student and rabbinic leadership at Mishkan Chicago; three years as Education Director at Shir Hadash Reconstructionist Synagogue in Wheeling, Illinois; four years as Director of Youth Programs at Beth Emet The Free Synaogue in Evanston, Illinois; two years as a member of the levite circle (musical prayer leadership team) of Nava Tehlia in Jerusalem, Israel; and a high holiday season co-leading at the Fuchsberg Center for Conservative Judaism in Jerusalem, Israel.
Before entering rabbinical school, Rabbi Rachel worked for over a decade as a Reiki Master and retreat producer, organizing international healing workshops and gatherings across interfaith and multicultural communities. Her earlier career was in education, with professional licensure in Secondary Social Studies Education from the University of Iowa and a deep commitment to constructivist pedagogy.
From 2020 to 2024, Rabbi Rachel lived in Jerusalem, where she studied at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and served as their first-ever Rabbinic Intern. In 2023–2024, she completed her Clinical Pastoral Education in Israel and served as a student chaplain in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, working in direct spiritual care during the first year of the war. Living through an active war, being in community, and serving spiritually were life affirming experiences for Rabbi Rachel. They clarified for her that spiritual presence is much deeper than can be expressed in words, and that communities in crisis benefit from simply being together and having purpose taking care of each other. These lessons have become central elements of her rabbinate.
In addition to her congregational work, Rabbi Rachel serves as a faculty member with the Jewish Learning Collaborative and My Jewish Learning, offering 1:1 havruta study for Jewish professionals across North America. Rabbi Rachel has a second ordination as a Mashpi’ah (Jewish Spiritual Director). Rabbi Rachel also serves as a Governor of the ALEPH Ordination Program (AOP).
Rabbi Rachel now lives in Ashland, where she delights in the mountains, writes haikus in the woods, and continues to integrate her healing and artistic roots into a vibrant, inclusive, and prayerful rabbinate. She is passionate about building spiritual communities rooted in belonging, courageous empathy, embodied tradition, authentic inspiration and joy.
Our Rabbi – Rabbi Rachel Dorit Goldberg
Rabbi Rachel Dorit Goldberg serves as the spiritual leader of Havurah Shir Hadash in Ashland, Oregon. Ordained in 2024 by the ALEPH Ordination Program (AOP), she represents the emergent generation of Jewish Renewal leadership. Her work weaves together decades of experience in education, healing arts, and spiritual facilitation, grounded in the core belief that learning, prayer, and community are transformative healing modalities for the soul.
Rabbi Rachel brings to her role more than fifteen years of cross-denominational congregational experience, including nearly ten years of student and rabbinic leadership at Mishkan Chicago; three years as Education Director at Shir Hadash Reconstructionist Synagogue in Wheeling, Illinois; four years as Director of Youth Programs at Beth Emet The Free Synaogue in Evanston, Illinois; two years as a member of the levite circle (musical prayer leadership team) of Nava Tehlia in Jerusalem, Israel; and a high holiday season co-leading at the Fuchsberg Center for Conservative Judaism in Jerusalem, Israel.
Before entering rabbinical school, Rabbi Rachel worked for over a decade as a Reiki Master and retreat producer, organizing international healing workshops and gatherings across interfaith and multicultural communities. Her earlier career was in education, with professional licensure in Secondary Social Studies Education from the University of Iowa and a deep commitment to constructivist pedagogy.
From 2020 to 2024, Rabbi Rachel lived in Jerusalem, where she studied at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and served as their first-ever Rabbinic Intern. In 2023–2024, she completed her Clinical Pastoral Education in Israel and served as a student chaplain in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, working in direct spiritual care during the first year of the war. Living through an active war, being in community, and serving spiritually were life affirming experiences for Rabbi Rachel. They clarified for her that spiritual presence is much deeper than can be expressed in words, and that communities in crisis benefit from simply being together and having purpose taking care of each other. These lessons have become central elements of her rabbinate.
In addition to her congregational work, Rabbi Rachel serves as a faculty member with the Jewish Learning Collaborative and My Jewish Learning, offering 1:1 havruta study for Jewish professionals across North America. Rabbi Rachel has a second ordination as a Mashpi’ah (Jewish Spiritual Director). Rabbi Rachel also serves as a Governor of the ALEPH Ordination Program (AOP).
Rabbi Rachel now lives in Ashland, where she delights in the mountains, writes haikus in the woods, and continues to integrate her healing and artistic roots into a vibrant, inclusive, and prayerful rabbinate. She is passionate about building spiritual communities rooted in belonging, courageous empathy, embodied tradition, authentic inspiration and joy.