The Rabbi

The Wellington Progressive Jewish Congregation is delighted to have the only progressive rabbi in New Zealand, Rabbi Johanna Hershenson.

Rabbi Johanna was born in Washington, DC, USA, and has been a rabbi for eleven years, serving with the Union of Reform Judaism congregations in Los Angeles, Orange County, California, and Anchorage, Alaska. She completed her undergraduate work at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison, Wisconsin. Upon graduating, Johanna married Mark Hershenson, and with him moved to Jerusalem, Israel, to begin her rabbinic studies at The Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion. She completed her training in Cincinnati, Ohio, before taking her first official rabbinic post at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles.

Rabbi Johanna was appointed rabbi of the Wellington Progressive Jewish Congregation in 2006. She has a blog which you can check out here.