Joseph Gindi

Position: Jewish Studies Teacher
Categories: All Staff, Jewish Studies

Weslyan University – BA
Brandeis University – MA
UNC, Chapel Hill – MA

Joseph Gindi teaches Modern Jewish History at JCHS. He is a pluralistic Jewish educator and scholar of modern Jewish studies with over fifteen years of experience teaching Jews of diverse ages and backgrounds. He has a Bachelors in Anthropology from Wesleyan University, Masters in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Jewish Professional Leadership from Brandeis University, and a Masters in Religious Studies from UNC, Chapel Hill, where he wrote a thesis entitled Greening the Torah: The Use of Classical Texts in Jewish Environmentalist Literature. Joseph has also studied in batei midrash at the Pardes Institute, Mechon Hadar, and The Jewish Theological Seminary.

Most recently Joseph taught Jewish Studies at the Kehillah Jewish High School in Palo Alto, CA. Before moving to the Bay Area, Joseph was the Senior Program Officer for International Education and Jewish Engagement at American Jewish World Service (AJWS), where he ran a human rights education fellowship for rabbis and cantors. Prior to AJWS, he taught at Prozdor at Hebrew College, the Slifka Center at Yale University, and a variety of synagogues across the denominational spectrum.

Joseph’s scholarly interests focus on the transformations of American Judaism in the 20th and 21st centuries, including the Jewish environmental and social justice movements, Jewish feminism, changing Jewish relationships to the nation-state, and the evolution of Syrian Jewish Orthodoxy. In his teaching, Joseph uses historical, anthropological, and religious studies frameworks to help students understand how Jewish culture operates and inspire them to craft lives of meaning.

Joseph grew up in the Syrian Jewish community in Deal, New Jersey, and now lives with his wife and son in Oakland, CA. Though he loves life in the Bay Area, he deeply misses lachmagine and east coast bagels.

Jewish Community High School of the Bay
1835 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA 94115
Phone: 415.345.9777

The Jewish Community High School of the Bay (JCHS) is a unique college preparatory high school committed to integrating deep learning, universal wisdom, and Jewish values. We empower each student to embrace their Jewish identity, generate empathy and compassion, delight in lifelong education, and improve the world.

JCHS is Title IX compliant. Find out more here.

JCHS is grateful for generous operational, programmatic, and financial support from:

Key Dates 2022-2023

This calendar is subject to change.
Please refer to the JCHS website calendar for the most up-to-date information

Tuesday, August 23Freshman Welcome Retreat
Wednesday, August 24Transfer Orientation
Thursday, August 25 First Day of Classes
Monday, September 5No Classes – Labor Day
Thursday, September 8Back to School Night/New Parent Orientation
Friday – Sunday, September 23-25All-School Shabbaton
Monday – Tuesday, September 26-27 .No Classes – Rosh Hashanah
Wednesday, September 28No Classes – Professional Development Day
Tuesday, October 4Virtual Day – 2:20 Early Release – Erev Yom Kippur
Wednesday, October 5No Classes – Yom Kippur
Monday – Tuesday, October 10-11No Classes – Sukkot
Monday – Tuesday, October 17-18No Classes – Shemini Atzeret/ Simchat Torah
Thursday, November 10No Classes – Faculty Meeting Day /Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences (Evening)
Friday, November 11No Classes – Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences
Monday, November 21Virtual Day – 3:20 Release – Thanksgiving Week
Tuesday, November 22Virtual Day – 3:20 Release – Thanksgiving Week
Wednesday – Friday, November 23–25No Classes – Thanksgiving Break
Monday, December 19 – Monday, January 2No Classes – Winter Break
Tuesday, January 3Classes Resume
Monday, January 16No Classes – MLK Day
Thursday, February 16Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences (Evening)
Friday, February 17No Classes – Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences
Monday, February 20No Classes – Presidents Day
Sunday – Monday, March 5–20Journey (Grade 11)
Sunday – Thursday, March 12-16Journey (Grades 9, 10 & 12)
Friday, March 17No Classes for Grades 9, 10 & 12 – Journey Recovery Day
Tuesday, March 21No Classes for Grade 11 – Journey Recovery Day
Monday – Friday, April 3–14No Classes – Pesach Break
Friday, May 26No Classes – Shavuot I
Monday, May 29No Classes – Memorial Day
Friday & Monday – Thursday, June 2 & 5-8Final Exams (Grades 9-11)
Thursday, June 8Graduation