Jill grew up in an unaffiliated and interfaith family in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That meant that until high school, her primary connection to Judaism was through her personal network of family and friends. In high school she joined BBYO, which was open to all Jewish youth regardless of synagogue affiliation. As she became more involved in BBYO, she started to realize how isolating it was to be unaffiliated and wrestled with the fact that there were very few opportunities for unaffiliated Jews to engage in organized Jewish life. Through this experience, she started to dream about one day becoming a rabbi to serve those like her, who did not belong to a synagogue.
Instead, her journey led her toward becoming more entrenched in institutional Jewish life. She went to college at the University of Minnesota and became active in Hillel, and started to work as a teacher and youth advisor at Bet Shalom Congregation in Minnetonka. She worked at OSRUI and participated in a variety of URJ programs for young adults. She fell in love with Reform Judaism and shortly after college, she started rabbinical school at HUC-JIR, first in Israel and then on the New York campus.
Upon ordination, Jill returned to Bet Shalom to work as a rabbi and spent ten years at the synagogue, first as the Rabbi Educator and then as the Associate Rabbi. During that time, she became an active participant and leader in the broader community, serving as a Co-Chair of the Minnesota Rabbinical Association for three years. She currently serves on the board of Minnesota Hillel, the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition, the Hopkins Race and Equity Initiative, and is the chair of the Overseas Committee of Minneapolis Jewish Federation.
She is excited and proud to return to her original dream that led her to the rabbinate through the founding of YourJewish. She hopes that she will be able to validate the experiences of those who grew up like her, help those who haven't found their place in Jewish life yet, and bring joy, meaning, and connection to all those who are looking for new and creative avenues of engagement.