Rabbi Raachel Jurovics grew up in L.A. and attended UCLA for approximately eternity, earning B.A. (1967), M.A. (1969) and Ph.D. (1976) degrees in English Medieval Literature. Her professional experience includes freelance writing and editing; communication skills training and consulting; and software design.Raachel's family relocated to Raleigh in 1983. Both in California and North Carolina, Raachel has been involved in congregational and community service in numerous capacities, among them Board Member, Officer, Social Action Chair, and Religious Practices Chair at Leo Baeck Temple and at Temple Beth Or; Board Member and Newsletter Editor of the San Fernando Valley Fair Housing Council; Board Member of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Council; Board Member and Chair of the North Carolina Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights; Member of the Pastoral Services Committee of the Triangle AIDS Interfaith Network and Chair of TRAIN's Program Development Committee; Task Force Member, North Carolina Council of Churches; Member of the Vigils Against Violence Committee of the Wake County Interfaith Alliance; Member of the Rex Hospital Ethics Committee; founding Project Coordinator for B'yachad, an intercongregational community service agency (for which she secured STAR Foundation funding); and Member of the Raleigh-Cary Jewish Federation Jewish Family Services Board.In 1995, Raachel trained as a Rabbinic Aide under the auspices of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and in 1998 she began her studies in the Jewish Renewal Rabbinic Training Program. In January 2003, she received smicha as a mashpia ruchani (spiritual director) from Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and she currently serves as Program Director for Temple Beth Or, a 500-member-family Reform congregation, in addition to conducting her private practice in spiritual direction.Raachel and her husband Stephen, an environmental consultant, have survived the upbringing of a son Toby (Associate Curator of Photography at The Art Museum, Princeton University) and Nicole (a partner at StressManagement, a talent-management firm in Atlanta). 
