For Tali Moscowitz, working in the Jewish community feels “right at home.”
She is the Mid-Atlantic regional director for Moving Traditions, a Jewish youth organization, a role she began in January. Moving Traditions partners with 70 organizations across the Mid-Atlantic region — synagogues, Jewish day schools and camps in Greater Washington — to help teens get involved in the community.
Moscowitz moved from the Midwest to the East Coast to attend American University in the nation’s capital, and she never left.
Moscowitz lives in Bethesda with her husband. They belong to Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County, where Moscowitz previously worked for more than 17 years.
Tell me about your Jewish upbringing and background.
I grew up in Minnesota in a very Conservative Jewish home. My family was very involved in our synagogue life in the Jewish community in the Minneapolis suburbs. We always had Shabbat dinner every Friday night. We were one of those families that you’d see at least someone at synagogue on Shabbat morning and there was always conversation about Israel and a love of Israel in our family. My parents, even though they’re American, met in Israel. They lived in Israel for a number of years, so being Jewish was always something that I was taught to be proud of.
Have you always wanted to work in the Jewish community?
My undergraduate degree was in elementary education, and then I received a post-baccalaureate certificate in medicine. A few years after that, I actually always saw a career in the medical field; I was very interested in pediatrics and doing something along the line of pediatrics, and I was dedicated to that. For various reasons, that didn’t work out, and I fell into working in the Jewish community; it was not something I intended to do. Both of my parents had careers in the Jewish community, and so I grew up surrounded by that, but it wasn’t something I saw myself doing. I fell into it in the mid-2000s and I’ve loved it ever since. I feel right at home working in the Jewish community.
What are your responsibilities as regional director for Moving Traditions?
Every day is different. A lot of my role is creating relationships to engage our partnerships.
A lot of my day encompasses meeting with partners, helping to facilitate how they use the curriculum, brainstorming how they use the curriculum and the program, and participating in grant funder meetings.
Tell me about your work at Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County.
I worked there for a very long time in various positions. I credit Congregation Beth El for giving me a really good opportunity and foundation for how to best work and use my skill sets in the Jewish community. I held various positions at Congregation Beth El. I’ve deepened many relationships and I’m really appreciative of the time I spent there.
What do you like about the local Jewish community?
I really appreciate that the Jewish community in the D.C. area is bigger. I can go someplace and pretty much never be the only Jewish person. There were many times growing up in the suburbs of Minneapolis where I would be the only Jewish person in a space, or one of the only Jewish people in a space. I went to a private nondenominational school growing up, and I was one of four Jewish kids in my entire grade. And here, the teens I interact with in Northwest D.C., Maryland and the suburbs of D.C. don’t have that same experience.
How do you spend your time outside of work?
I am a certified yoga teacher. I’ve been practicing yoga since college. About 10 years ago, I did my yoga teacher training. Yoga is one of my favorite things. You can frequently find me in my living room with my yoga mat out, streaming a class. I used to take classes at all sorts of different studios prior to COVID, but now I got in the habit of streaming classes.
I love cycling. I love doing jigsaw puzzles. My husband is Israeli, so you can find us going to various Israeli events. We both have a love of Israeli music, so anytime an Israeli artist that we both like comes through this area or through a nearby metropolitan area, we will generally get tickets to go to a concert. I have a serious love of Broadway musicals, so you’ll find me at all of the Broadway musicals that come through this area.
