Clergy and Staff
Rabbi Lisa Edwards
Rabbi Lisa Edwards came to BCC in 1994, the year of her ordination by Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR). Known as a Rabbi's rabbi, Rabbi Edwards brings a profound love of study and the written word to her rabbinate. She holds a Ph.D. in literature, which may account for the references as diverse as Shakespeare, modern poetry, and New Yorker cartoons that enrich her drashes.
Known for her memorable sermons, congregants often feel that she's speaking to their feelings and experiences. Her BCC Torah study group has met every Thursday for 12 years. She tends as carefully to our congregation's emotional and life cycle needs as she does our educational and spiritual yearnings. Rabbi Edwards has married many couples, as well as lovingly officiated at our baby-namings, funerals, and welcomings to the covenant.
As a leader of the world's first gay and lesbian synagogue, Rabbi Edwards is frequently profiled in the media and is a sought-after spokesperson on issues of faith and sexuality. She is known as a thoughtful and reasoned advocate for same-sex marriage, environmental protection, and social and economic justice. Rooted in Jewish teaching, Rabbi Edwards speaks eloquently to the need for individuals and communities to come together to bring into being the world we dream is possible.
Rabbi Edwards has taught on an adjunct basis at HUC in the rabbinical school, and at USC in the Jewish Studies program. Her writing appears in a half-dozen books, including Kulanu : All of Us (a URJ handbook for congregational inclusion of gay and lesbian Jews); The Women's Torah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions; Lesbian Rabbis: The First Generation; and Mentsh: On Being Queer and Jewish (edited by Angela Brown), where she wrote the foreword. She is a guest Torah commentator/columnist in LA's Jewish Journal, the second-largest circulation Jewish publication in the U.S. Additionally Rabbi Edwards is a co-editor of the revised editions (1999) of the Reform Movement textbook, Introduction to Judaism: a Sourcebook, and its companion Instructor's Guide and Curriculum. She is the "Spiritual Role Model" in the book Outspoken by Michael Thomas Ford, a book of interviews of GLBT people intended for a youth audience.
A couple since 1985, Rabbi Edwards and Tracy Moore were married under chuppah in 1995, and under California law in 2008 by Assemblymember Karen Bass and Rabbi Laura Geller. Tracy is the editor of Lesbiot: Israeli Lesbians Talk about Sexuality, Feminism, Judaism and Their Lives.
Cantor Juval Porat
Juval Porat was born in Israel and moved to Germany with his family as a child. He returned to Israel during his high school years, where he studied at the Bnai Akiva Yeshiva. In the late 1990's Juval moved back to Germany, where he began architecture studies at the University of Aachen. He graduated with a master's degree in 2004. During his undergraduate studies Juval served as a cantorial soloist at several congregations in Germany. After working for a while as an architect in Berlin, Juval began cantorial studies at the Abraham Geiger College and continued them at the newly established Institute of Cantorial Arts. During these studies, Juval was engaged as a service leader at several liberal congregations in Germany. Juval spent his final academic year at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, where he wrote a thesis on the Friday evening liturgy. He gave a recital based on his thesis work in June, 2009, shortly before his investiture as the first German-trained cantor since World War II.
Rabbinic Intern Lindy Davidson
Hi. My name is Lindy Reznick Davidson and I'm excited to become a new part of the BCC community as a rabbinic intern/student rabbi in 5770. From a very young age my mother taught me the power of stories and storytelling. Together she and I would pass time by making up stories as we walked, waited or cuddled together. Understanding each other's stories can only help us to better connect to one another. As far back as I can remember I had a passion for the arts, drama and dance. I have always used this passion to reach others, educate, and inspire. My husband Matt shares my passion for the Arts and Judaism as both a musician and composer and as Program Director at Kehillat Israel Reconstructionist Congregation in the Pacific Palisades. He has also won a number of distinguished awards for his Jewish music. Our daughter Clara, who is two-and-a-half, already loves music, as one can observe when she rocks out at Shabbat services. She has been hearing wonderful music since she was in the womb. Following my passion for the Arts I studied Theater and Dance for my Bachelor of Arts at the University of California at Santa Cruz. My love of languages, beginning with Spanish, has led me to travel all over the world. I have lived in South America and Israel, and have visited Jewish communities in Egypt, Spain, Italy, Prague, the former Soviet Union, Greece and Turkey, to name a few.
After pursuing my undergraduate degree I decided to move to Israel and explore my Jewish roots up close and personal. I lived in Israel for two years following college, where I worked for Hillel doing outreach for Jewish students. In addition I studied and lived in a variety of cities in Israel while on Project Otzma working with Israelis of all ages from different parts of the country. I came home for a summer expecting to return to Israel the following fall, only to meet my husband in Santa Monica. Engagement, marriage and graduate school delayed our return to Israel for a few years after that. While stateside I continued pursuing my three loves, art, education and Judaism. I was a Jewish educator for a number of years, taking on a combination of jobs that spanned my fields of interest. After a few years I knew it was time to continue to learn and grow, and I decided to pursue a dual masters degree.
I attended HUC-JIR for a Master in Jewish communal service, paired with a Master of Public Art Studies from USC. I received a fellowship to take my "public art" work to the Jewish community. I led workshops, studied with wonderful Jewish artists and was finally combining my passions for the arts and Judaism in one career path. But at HUC I realized that my deep desire of becoming a rabbi was not quieted by my current graduate degree. I decided I could no longer ignore the calling and had to step up to the plate. Upon graduating with a MAJCS and MPAS in May, the next month Matt and I were off to Israel to start my first year of rabbinic school at HUC.
This year I enter my fifth and final year in rabbinic school at Hebrew Union College, now with two children in tow. Our newest arrival, Isaiah Benjamin (Izzy), is almost four months old and has already brought our family much joy and happiness. While the path has not been an easy one, I am so grateful for the opportunity that becoming a rabbi provides me. My work creates opportunities for sacred connections with both God and others in our community. I look forward to getting to know all of you better as our time together progresses. Please introduce yourself to me, so I can learn your names and stories.
Together may we uncover the elements of ourselves and our stories that are most meaningful to us, and may we learn and grow into a thriving, educated Jewish community rich with love and energy to make positive change. May we all be blessed with a new year of growth!
Felicia Park-Rogers
Felicia Park- Rogers, BCC's first Executive Director, has been with BCC since October 2005. Passionate about repairing the world through community building, Felicia is proud to be part of this thriving community. She has worked in various capacities in the non-profit sector since 1986.
Formerly Felicia served for six years as the Executive Director of COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere), a national LGBT civil rights, advocacy and support organization. During that time she received numerous awards and recognitions as a young leader in the lgbt civil rights movement as well as for her advocacy on behalf of lgbt families. She traveled the nation as a speaker and was frequently featured in media venues from the New York Times to MSNBC to In the Life.
Upon moving to Los Angeles, she completed the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion's "Fundamentals of Synagogue Management" course, as well as the year-long Synagogue Leadership Institute presented by the Southern California Board of Rabbis. Felicia is a member of PATA-the Professional Association of Temple Administrators.
Felicia lives near BCC with her partner of 16 years, Rachel Timoner, a fifth-year rabbinical student at HUC, and their two young sons, Eitan and Benjamin.
Leah Zimmerman
Leah Zimmerman, Director of Education, joined BCC as the temple's first Director of Education in August, 2007. She oversees BCC's innovative family education program, Ohr Chayim, as well as the temple's holiday and educational programming for children and families. Leah has worked in formal and informal Jewish contexts as a mentor, teacher, education director, and tutor, integrating Jewish learning with the arts and family and community education. Leah holds an M.S. from the Bank Street School of Education in New York City, and has been Director of Education at Congregation Kolot Chayeinu in Brooklyn, NY. Leah has also worked as an Elementary school teacher in the public schools in New York City and Round Rock, Texas, where she learned how meaningful learning takes place by listening givingly to her kindergarten and second grade students. Leah also studied at The Actor's Institute in New York City and has been featured in solo and ensemble performances in diverse theater and cabaret venues. Leah lives in Claremont, California with her two beautiful daughters, Leila and Bella, and her husband, Jeff.Victoria Delgadillo
Victoria has been BCC's Office Manager since 1998. After receiving her BA from the University of California, San Diego, she was a college recruiter for the University of California, then a bi-lingual employment interviewer for LAUSD. Victoria has always had a strong desire to help improve people's lives by assisting them cope with everyday issues and supporting them in finding the resources to resolve those issues. The major focus of her career before coming to BCC was as an employment developer for single mothers, at risk youth, the homeless, mono-lingual and injured workers, as well as unskilled labor. She is very proud to have served as the Director of a High School Community Beautification Project in Pico Union. Victoria's parallel career to her social service work has been as an art activist. For producing and creating art events that have shaped social change, Victoria received the Los Angeles City Council Award for Creating Public Awareness through Art and is frequently invited to speak at Universities, colleges and high schools on art as activism. Her visual work has been exhibited internationally and is in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Laguna Art Museum, the Mexican American Museum (Chicago), the California Printmaking Archive, Orange County Art Museum, and numerous private collections. Victoria was one of the artists that created BCC's stained glass windows.
