Camille Angel
As one of the first gay rabbis to be hired by a mainstream synagogue, Camille Angel has worked tirelessly to make Judaism and Judaic texts welcoming and germane for LGBTQ Jews. The daughter of a rabbi herself, Angel was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where she received awards for her scholarship. After graduation, she served as associate rabbi at Congregation Rodeph Sholom in Manhattan for five years and then as head rabbi at the LGBTQ Reform Congregation Sha’ar Zahav in San Francisco from 2000 to 2015. At Sha’ar Zahav, Angel pushed the congregation to finish compiling, and finally in 2009 to publish, the Siddur Sha’ar Zahav, an LGBTQ-oriented prayerbook. She also served as Program Director at the Claremont College Hillel, guest-lectured at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, was a Scholar-in-Residence for Women of Reform Judaism, and is an adjunct professor in the Swig Program in Jewish Studies and Social Justice at the University of San Francisco. She has been honored as one of Letty Cottin Pogrobin’s “List of Top 50 Rabbis” and has received the Emanuel Gamoran Curriculum Award.
Camille became part of our family when she was a student. She has been a part of my families life cycles. She has performed baby naming, funerals, Bat Mitzvah, and weddings. We love her and her family. She is amazing!