ABOUT

She grew up in New Jersey and was an active participant and eventual board member in her synagogue's youth group. She found her calling as a rabbi during summers at the Kutz Camp and through Urban Mitzvah Corps. 

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Rabbi Gorban earned her B.A. with High Honors in Health: Science, Society and Policy from Brandeis University, focusing on the intersection between health and religion. Her senior honors thesis, Hearing Their Voices: A Case-Study of Elderly Nursing Home Residents’ Perspectives on Religion and Chaplaincy Services, explored the way connections to religious traditions and community impacted the lives of the residents of a nursing home.

 

After graduation from Brandeis University in 2007, Rabbi Gorban began her studies at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She received her M.A. in Hebrew Letters in 2010 and was ordained as a rabbi in 2012. During her studies, she earned an award for Excellence in Bible for her work on Psalm 77, which she presented at a conference of the Society of Biblical Literature's Pacific Coast Region. She was also one of the leaders of an annual interfaith retreat for students of six Los Angeles area seminaries. Additionally, she served as a student rabbi at congregations in Montana, British Columbia, and Arizona; taught Jewish History as a teaching assistant at the University of Southern California; and worked as a chaplain in nursing homes in California and at a hospital in Denver.

 

Upon ordination, Rabbi Gorban served as Assistant Rabbi at Temple Sinai in Denver for three years, before becoming the Associate Rabbi at Temple Sinai in Pittsburgh in 2015. At both congregations, Rabbi Gorban was instrumental in engaging families with young children. In Denver, this work was especially focused in the synagogue's early childhood center and through monthly Tot Shabbat services. Families that were affiliated with the congregation for the preschool became more active in other aspects of synagogue life and were able to build a stronger community. In Pittsburgh, Rabbi Gorban re-envisioned and restructured the religious school program to encourage more natural student interest in Jewish learning and, therefore, deeper understanding and connection. This new program stemmed from work she did towards an M.A. in Religious Education at HUC-JIR, which she completed in 2018. Her capstone project focused on the dynamic tension between love and literacy in Jewish education.

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Even in her rabbinic work as pastoral counselor, lifecycle officiant, prayer leader, community leader, and more, Rabbi Gorban seeks opportunities foster meaningful relationships and connective learning so that people can incorporate the blessings of Judaism into their sense of purpose.

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In 2018, Rabbi Gorban was invited to be one of ten young leaders from the Pittsburgh area to participate in Harvard Business School's Young American Leaders Program. During this intensive week of learning and networking, upcoming leaders from twelve cities across the country explored how cross-sector collaboration could increase shared prosperity for all Americans. 

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Since then, Rabbi Gorban has served a number of leadership roles in the Pittsburgh Jewish community. She has been the President of the Pittsburgh Area Reform Clergy, Secretary of the Greater Pittsburgh Rabbinic Association (GPRA), and led Pittsburgh's first Honeymoon Israel trip just a few weeks after the terrible attack at the Tree of Life synagogue. She currently serves as President of the GPRA, and organizes a community-wide Introduction to Judaism.

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As someone who loves learning, Rabbi Gorban has recently completed trainings in community organizing, supervision, and Youth Mental Health First Aid.