With the 2025 spring semester coming to a close, we are delighted to highlight the talented and dedicated community members who help shape AJRCA.

Today we are thrilled to spotlight AJRCA President Emeritus, Rabbi Mel Gottlieb, PhD.

AJRCA History Through the Eyes of its Longest Serving President

Written by Susan Casamassima

As AJRCA begins its 26^th year we pause to reflect on the values that its founders espoused; values that are still essential to the ethos of the Academy today. No one is better at illustrating these values than Rabbi Mel Gottlieb, PhD, the Academy’s longest serving president.

Shortly after Rabbis Stan Levy, Steve Robins and Mordecai Finley crafted the idea of AJRCA, Rabbi Mel joined the faculty of the budding Academy. Shortly thereafter, he became the first dean of the rabbinic school and then its president.

Ordained as an orthodox rabbi and a Doctor of Philosophy, Rabbi Mel helped craft the curriculum for the rabbinic school. As a transdenominational institution, one that values and educates all practices of Judaism under a single umbrella, the spiritual component of its curriculum spoke to Rabbi Mel’s background.

Synthesizing his personal spiritual values and his love of psychology, teaching, and the Jewish religion, being president of AJRCA was a dream job. Not only was he able to teach and create courses, he was also able to infuse the learning with his background in psychology and social work.

We would be remiss if we did not trumpet Rabbi Mel’s creation of a nationally recognized and accredited Chaplaincy school; the only one on the West Coast. The creation of this school combines his love of psychology, Judaism and spiritual values.

While Rabbi Mel has ‘formally’ retired, he has not retired. Recently, he published, Torah Travels: A Psycho-Spiritual Journey Through the Weekly Torah Portion. The book explores the philosophical, ethical, and spiritual themes found in the weekly Torah portions.

Rabbi Mel sees the burgeoning collaboration with Loyola Marymount University as an idea whose time is now and here. He trumpets and promotes interfaith dialogue and collaboration, and served on the committees that have made this collaboration a reality.