Rabbi Rachmiel Gurwitz serves as the Middle School Rabbi-in-Residence at the Leffell School, helping to bring joyful Judaism to the school. Originally from San Diego, Rabbi Gurwitz received a BA with high honors in global and international studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He continued his studies at the David Shapell College of Jewish Studies/Darche Noam Yeshiva in Jerusalem and went on to receive smicha, rabbinical ordination, at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT) in Riverdale, New York. While pursuing smicha, Rabbi Gurwitz also worked with Selfhelp as a chaplain working with Holocaust survivors, and with T’ruah, The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, in a Filipino migrant workers’ rights organization. He also built his entrepreneurial repertoire as a fellow with the Office of Innovation at Hillel International. Following his ordination from YCT, Rabbi Gurwitz served as the Hillel director and Jewish chaplain at Muhlenberg College and then as the Rabbi-in-Residence at Carmel Academy. Rabbi Gurwitz loves exploring the inner spiritual world and delving into the mystical and Hasidic traditions of Judaism. In his free time, you can find him baking bread from scratch or hiking off trail with his wife Joanna (a Leffell School fifth-grade teacher) and their three children.