Rabbi Yael Aranoff

VBS is proud to welcome Rabbi Yael Aranoff to our clergy team as Assistant Rabbi. Yael worked as our VBS Intern Rabbi prior to her new position, sharing her tremendous warmth, widowm and creativity with our community. Her constant smile exudes a love of Torah and Israel that beautifully reflect our values.

Growing up, Yael was introduced to the VBS community thanks to her grandparents, Rabbi Paul and Esther Dubin, who were members. She has been inspired by the love of all things Jewish shown by the VBS community, and carries those communal values with her.

An Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Fellow, Yael received her rabbinic ordination in May 2024 at The Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at American Jewish University. She is a fellow with the CJLS, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards. Yael has been a Leffell Israel Fellow with AIPAC and participated in the Shalom Hartman Institute iEngage Clergy Student Fellowship, the Makom Fellowship, and the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Jerusalem Rabbinical Student Seminar.

In addition to her love of Israel, Yael is passionate about interfaith work, serving as co-president on the board of the Academy for Judaic, Christian, and Islamic Studies. She has co-planned and participated in several InterSems, an annual interfaith seminarian retreat, and attended an Interfaith Seminarian Retreat of the Multicultural Alliance in Texas.

Yael is also dedicated to prayer and spiritual music. She has led 15 years of High Holiday services at UCLA Hillel, and  has sung in and organized various Ziegler liturgical choral ensembles. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Yael graduated with a BA in history and theatre from U.C. Berkeley, and spent the next decade working as an actor, singer, director, writer, and educator.

Contact Rabbi Yael Aranoff:

Phone: (818) 530-4010
Email: yaranoff@vbs.org