Rabbi Jill Gold Wright

Director of Education 

Jill Gold Wright (she/her) was born and raised in Los Angeles. She studied English at the University of California, Irvine, with one year in England at the University of Birmingham. Jill’s Master’s and Doctoral degrees in English, specializing in American Literature and World Drama, are from Claremont Graduate University. Her monograph, Creating America on Stage: How Jewish Composers and Lyricists Pioneered American Jewish Theater, was published in 2009. Other publications include articles in Americana: Readings in American Popular Culture, The Steinbeck Review, and Magazine Americana. Jill was also a recipient of a National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Teaching Grant.

Jill received s'micha from the Academy of Jewish Religion, Los Angeles. She served as a Spiritual Counselor Intern at Beit T’shuvah Addiction Recovery Center. She also served as the Rabbinic Intern and Student Rabbi at Adat Ari El Synagogue for two years. Her Rabbinic thesis, An Alphabet of Moms: Making Pluralism Personal explores the varying practices of American Jewish women.

Jill worked as a tenured Professor of English at Mt. San Antonio College for 27 years. She has also taught at Claremont Graduate University and in numerous synagogues and Jewish spaces.

Jill’s previous PJTC experience includes: Interim Religious School Director; teaching Kitah Dalet; longtime member of the Education Committee; singing with the Davening Team; and raising two children in LBSRS. She has a long history of Religious School teaching, including at Temple Ahavat Shalom, Northridge; Temple Bat Yam, Newport Beach (youth group advisor); Temple Adat Elohim, Thousand Oaks, CA (6th grade teacher and summer camp director); Temple Beth David, Westminster, CA (Israeli dance); and Camp Hess Kramer (Senior counselor and Drama specialist).

An avid fan of theater, literature, and travel, Jill lives with her husband, Patrick, and children, Liam and Allegra, in South Pasadena.