Meet Rabbi Dana Benson

As a child, Dana did not feel supported by or even part of the Jewish community, and she drifted into the ranks of the unaffiliated. Her attitude began to change after she started college at Michigan State University.

There, she found that Judaism was accepting of her identity; her rabbi “didn’t bat an eye” when she came out. She slowly worked her way into Jewish campus life, getting involved with Hillel’s social justice programming. She would go on to sporadically lead services, aided by a gift for singing. On a Birthright Israel trip, in the middle of the Negev desert, she heard a still, small voice calling her to the rabbinate. Now she’s returned to her alma mater to serve as a senior Jewish educator. She hopes to help people engage with Judaism so that they may find a greater sense of meaning and purpose in their lives, just as she has.