Joel grew up in Los Angeles in a mixed family with secular and Jewish traditions. He attended Hebrew school there and became a bar mitzvah at age 13. Joel moved to San Francisco in 1996 to complete his BA at SFSU, then moved to Berkeley a few years later, where he still lives with his newly wed spouse in a blended family of five, plus an extremely active border collie.
He became connected with Kehilla through the school and B’nei Mitzvah program for his children beginning in 2016 and discovered the radiance of the Jewish community here. The open-minded, progressive nature of the leaders and congregation became a spiritual home to his family as they navigated the challenges of blending together.
When not working as a research strategist, Joel is active in the youth sports community, coaching high school baseball and Little League. Joel is also an avid meditator in the Vipassana tradition and attends silent retreats regularly.