Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz
Adjunct Fellow

Nolan Lebovitz serves as the senior rabbi at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, California, and sits on the Executive Board of the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition. Following the events of October 7 and its aftermath, he penned his first book "The Case for Dual Loyalty," expected to be published in early 2025. The book challenges one of the oldest taboos in American Jewish life. He argues that proudly declaring Jewish loyalty forges a new path forward imbued with pride of peoplehood and collective destiny.  In 2024, he earned his Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University’s Religion Department, focusing on his study of the Hebrew Bible. He accepted a position as an adjunct fellow at the Z3 Institute, which is part of the Palo Alto-based Z3 Project that is helping develop the next stage of Jewish life. A Fulbright Scholar, Lebovitz spent time in 2023 studying at Bar Ilan University in Israel. He wrote and directed two documentaries: Roadmap Jerusalem in 2018, and Roadmap Genesis in 2015. He received rabbinic ordination with a master’s degree from the American Jewish University’s Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in 2016. He earned his B.A. from the USC School of Cinema Television. A grandson of four survivors of the Shoah, he carries an obligation to teach the lessons of our past in hopes that we can chart a more hopeful future.