About Austin

All my life, I have had the blessing of experiencing Jewish communities that have nurtured me and led my down a path of meaning-making. Growing up in suburban Chicago, I had a strong connection to my family’s congregations, as well as a long-standing relationship with Jewish camping, including summers at Olin-Sang Ruby Union Institute (OSRUI), Kutz Camp, 6 Points Sports Academy, and Goldman Union Camp Institute (GUCI). I fell in love with Jewish communal leadership during my time in the North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY), where I served as North American Religious and Cultural Vice President after High School.

In college, I studied Jewish Studies and Telecommunications at Indiana University, where I worked to combine my love for Jewish history and tradition with the modern communications tools that make spaces like this possible. I dreamed of creating a new paradigm for sharing Judaism with the larger world, and this website is part of putting those two visions into the field in tandem.

Following a year working for the Union for Reform Judaism, I attended Hebrew Union College, first in Jerusalem and then in Cincinnati, where I studied to pursue my ultimate goal of becoming a rabbi. During my time in Cincinnati, I so fell in love with the city and with the community where I served as intern that I accepted a job at Valley Temple as the Rabbi/Educator. It has been my privilege to begin my career in the city that helped me grow so much into the rabbinate.

I now live in Cincinnati with my wife, Dori, a fellow Jewish professional (the Assistant Director at GUCI), and am a dedicated baseball fan, an avid reader, and a huge fan of my pickup truck, a 2004 Dodge Dakota. (Yes, this rabbi drives a pickup truck.)