In her role as Dean of Students and Director of the Jewish Ideas Fellowship at HUC-JIR, Rabbi Gross-Prinz collaborates with students to create an authentic, supportive, and invigorating community of learning. Prior to assuming her role, she was Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Emanu-El of New York City where she launched Gather, a small-group initiative bringing together congregants to learn, grow, and connect more deeply.
A Wexner Graduate Fellow, Rabbi Gross-Prinz has served congregations, organizations, and hospitals throughout the midwest. As a rabbinical student, she was awarded academic prizes for creativity and imagination, as well as for sermon writing and delivery.
Prior to rabbinical school Rabbi Gross-Prinz worked at Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps and the Jewish Outreach Institute. A graduate of Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, Rachel studied Sociology, Religion, and the fine art of communal living while producing a thesis entitled “Disorganized Religion,” which integrated ethnography, social theory, and literary analysis. Her graduate research at HUC-JIR focused on mindfulness meditation in Reform Jewish practice and joy in Jewish education.
Rabbi Gross-Prinz enjoys biking, dancing, and spending time with her partner, Noam, and children Ami, Pele, Lior, and Ziv in Brooklyn, NY.