Shul School

Josh Nelson

Josh Nelson (they/them) is excited to join Kehilat HaNahar as the Rabbinic Intern and Shul School Coordinator/Teacher for the 2022-23 year. Josh is a fourth-year rabbinical student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. In their rabbinic work, Josh delights in equipping students of all ages to more deeply engage with Jewish texts and stories, to more fully incorporate meaningful Jewish rituals and practices into their daily living, and to more thoroughly embody and live out their Jewish ethics and values.

Josh has served as the Assistant Director of the Religious School and as the Rabbinic Intern at Beth David Reform Congregation in Gladwyne, PA. They also have served as Co-Rabbinic Intern at Nafshenu in Cherry Hill, NJ and have completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (chaplaincy training) at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, PA. Prior to rabbinical school, Josh served as a religious school teacher at Beth Emet The Free Synagogue in Evanston, IL.

Josh holds an MA in Biblical Languages from Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA, concentrating their studies on Hebrew and narrative portions of the Tanakh. They obtained their bachelor's degree in mathematics and religious studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Josh lives in Elkins Park, PA with their wife Suzanne Caster, who serves as the Educational Director at Beth Tikvah B'nai Jeshurun in Erdenheim, PA, and their dog Barley. In their free time, Josh likes to read up on recent scientific developments and discoveries. They harbor a special passion for astrophysics and enjoy stargazing. Josh is also an avid gamer. 

Contact Josh at khnschool@gmail.com