Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater is the Executive Director of Friends in Deed, a local, religious-based non-profit addressing homelessness and poverty in the greater Pasadena area. After 5 years in congregations on the east coast, he served 12 years as senior rabbi of Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, where he established himself as an activist and interfaith leader, forming and sustaining coalitions for justice, peace and dialogue. In the summer of 2016, he worked for NRCAT as a California Organizer, bringing together a broad coalition of interfaith leaders to successfully pass SB1143, a state bill to limit juvenile isolation and room confinement. In the fall of 2016, he served as Deputy on the successful Portantino for California State Senate campaign.
He serves on the board of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights and NRCAT (National Religious Campaign Against Torture). He is a published writer and his works can be seen in Huffington Post, Times of Israel, The Jewish Journal of Southern California, Pasadena Now, and has been a recurring guest on the Resistance Rabbis podcast. On the side, he runs Rabbi Grater & Company, performing weddings, funerals, baby-namings and other creative rituals. He loves riding his motorcycle, playing darts and watching basketball. He lives in Pasadena with his wife, Franci, and their teenage twins.
He holds a B.A. in English and Literature from Lee College and graduate degrees from the Jewish Theological Seminary.