Rabbi Julie Jacobs - Center for Jewish Life

My Story

For nearly twenty years, the Center for Jewish Life at Beth David and the Gordon School at its heart have been my home. Not just my workplace. Not just my community. My home. The place that has shaped me as a rabbi, as a leader, and as a mother.

I have watched children take their very first steps through our ECC halls and later walk confidently across our bimah as b’nai mitzvah. I have held families through their highest joys and their hardest moments. I have seen teachers transform lives in quiet, sacred ways. And I have seen, again and again, how a strong community can change the trajectory of a child’s future.

My own children grew up in these classrooms, in our sanctuary, in our hallways filled with music and laughter. Every day when I walk through campus, I see pieces of their childhood and the childhoods of hundreds of other children woven into the fabric of this place. This community has held my family, lifted us, and given us purpose.

Professionally, this work is my calling. Personally, it is my heart.

We are building something extraordinary here. A center of learning, belonging, resilience, and Jewish identity that will serve Miami for generations. But we cannot do it alone.

Your support on Give Miami Day ensures that every child who wants to be part of our Gordon School family can be, regardless of financial circumstance. It strengthens our programs, our teachers, our facility, and our ability to say “yes” when a family needs us.

I am asking you, from a very personal place, to give if you can. Give for the child who needs a safe, loving school. Give for the family searching for community. Give for the future we are building together.

Thank you for being part of the story we are writing, one child, one family, and one act of generosity at a time.

With gratitude,Rabbi Julie Jacobs