Alysa Mendelson Graf

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Rabbi Mendelson was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City in May, 2004. While at HUC-JIR, Alysa served as rabbinic intern for three years at Congregation Rodeph Sholom in Manhattan, as summer intern at the Jewish Center of theHamptons in East Hampton, NY, and as High Holy Day rabbinic intern at Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, VA. She also taught, and served as youth advisor, at her home congregation, Westchester Reform Synagogue in Scarsdale, NY. Rabbi Mendelson wrote her rabbinic thesis on the use of comedic devices in the Bible, with a special focus on the books of Esther and Jonah, and the first six chapters of the Book of Samuel.

Rabbi Mendelson grew up in Scarsdale, NY. She is a 1993 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in European History. In college, she volunteered at the peer-support hotline at the University and at a rape-crisis center in Philadelphia. After college and a year living in Colorado, Rabbi Mendelson attended Fordham University School of Law, where she was a senior editor of the Environmental Law Journal and the chair of the Family Crisis Mediation Clinic. After graduating law school in 1997, Rabbi Mendelson worked as a matrimonial attorney in Manhattan before deciding to pursue her long-time dream of becoming a rabbi.

Rabbi Mendelson and her husband, Adam Graf, and sons Gideon, Solomon and Rafael reside in Westport.