Rabbi Jessica Dell’Era (she/they) is a dynamic spiritual leader who integrates her passion for teaching, the arts, and community engagement into everything she does. She loves to work with young and old alike, leading musical, participatory services, teaching kids and adults, and offering pastoral support to the congregation. Before graduating from the Rabbinical School at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Rabbi Dell’Era served three years as the Rabbinic Intern at the Emanuel Synagogue in West Hartford, CT. She is a former Secretary to the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, and she organized JTS’s on-campus minyan for two years as Gabbai in the Women’s League Seminary Synagogue. Rabbi Dell’Era has engaged in other aspects of the rabbinate that call to her as well: she directed the Performing Arts track at camp Ramah Galim, taught freshmen at List College, and worked in chaplaincy and non-profits serving vulnerable populations like trafficking survivors, formerly incarcerated people, low-income kids, and those without access to mental health care. Rabbi Dell’Era currently serves on the Brit Kodesh committee of the Rabbinical Assembly, the Medford Interfaith Clergy Group, as a Girls on the Run coach, and as an election worker.
Rabbi Dell’Era grew up in Fairfax, California, at the foot of Mt. Tamalpais, and lived most of her pre-rabbinical-school life in the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds a BA in Dramaturgy from Pomona College; an MA in Education from the University of California Berkeley; and an MA in Sacred Music from the H.L. Miller Cantorial School at JTS. In her previous career, she taught Spanish bilingual elementary classes (grades 3-6) and persuasive writing (grades 5-6). She also taught 6th grade T’fillah at her home congregation of Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland, California. Rabbi Dell’Era enjoys reading, mah jongg, cooking, hiking, Latin dance, and gardening. She and her spouse, Rabbi Leah Nussbaum (they/them), their toddler daughter, and their dog love being part of this warm and vibrant Temple Shalom community!
Rabbi Dell’Era can be reached at rabbidellera@templeshalommedford.org