Joshua M. Aaronson

Senior Rabbi

Rabbi Joshua M. Aaronson was born and raised in the City of Brotherly Love – Philadelphia, PA. He attended the University of Michigan and was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City, where he also received his Doctor of Divinity. 

Rabbi Aaronson became Temple Judea’s Senior Rabbi in July 2013. Before moving to Los Angeles, Rabbi Aaronson served as the first rabbi of Temple Har Shalom in Park City, Utah, as the Associate Rabbi at Temple Beth Zion of Buffalo, as the Associate Rabbi and then the acting Senior Rabbi of Fairmount Temple of Cleveland, and as Rabbi of Temple David in Perth, Australia.

Recognized for his love of Torah and his easy ability to teach Torah, Talmud, and Mishnah, he is equally known for his dry wit, his love of music, and his passion for all his beloved Philly sports teams.  

As the first Rabbi at Temple Har Shalom, Rabbi Aaronson supervised enormous growth, working to grow membership from about 100 households to over 300. He created such notable programs as Ski Shul at Deer Valley (the only ski-in/ski-out Shabbat worship service in the world) and a partnership with the Sundance Film Festival that included “Shabbat at Sundance” as well as special programming to highlight the Israeli filmmakers with films in the festival.

Rabbi Aaronson has served on numerous boards and civic and academic organizations including the People's Health Clinic, the Summit County Sheriff's Advisory Board, the Westminster College Hillel Advisory Board, and as a Rabbinic Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Aaronson and his wife Debbie, a pharmaceutical sales executive, are very proud of their children, Hanna, Harry, his wife Isabel, and Emma, as well as their Bernadoodle Milo and their big and affectionate Neapolitan Mastiff, Sadie.