Rabbi Daveen Litwin was appointed to the position of Chaplain and Hillel Director of the Claremont Colleges beginning August 2009. As one of three Chaplains serving the Claremont University Consortium, she provides religious, spiritual, educational and cultural leadership to the diverse members of our campus community.
Rabbi Litwin came to the Claremont Colleges after three years as the Campus Rabbi of Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa. In addition to her other duties, Rabbi Litwin worked with Professor Harold Kasimow, George Drake Professor of Religious Studies at Grinnell College as co-editor of the April 2009 edition of Interreligious Insight: A Journal of Dialogue and Engagement. Rabbi Litwin also contributed an essay to the journal which focused on the continuing relevance and insights of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.
Rabbi Litwin served as the Hillel Director at the University of Kansas for six years. She has extensive experience as a congregational Rabbi, working at both a large synagogue in Canada, and then a small start-up congregation in Northampton, MA.
Rabbi Litwin has trained at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, an intensive pluralistic study program for rabbis on the Jewish understanding of meditation, yoga, mysticism, spirituality and contemplative practice. Rabbi Litwin also brings expertise in counseling and pastoral care, working with students in transforming social justice theory into practice, and is an accomplished musician with cantorial skills.
Rabbi Litwin's professional memberships include the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Women's Rabbinic Network, and the National Association of College and University Chaplains.
Rabbi Litwin is a graduate of Brandeis University with Bachelor's degrees in English and American Literature and Sociology and a minor in Women's Studies. Rabbinic ordination and a M.A. in Hebrew Letters were received from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati, Ohio in 1997.