Jonathan Freund has a B.A. in Theatre Directing from Oberlin College and an M.A.Ed. in Jewish Studies from American Jewish University.
Jonathan is an annual lecturer at Claremont School of Theology and Columbia Theological Seminary, and a speaker and consultant on antisemitism, the Holocaust, interfaith dialogue, and Jewish Studies to students and professionals.
From 2006 to 2021, he served in numerous roles at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. Most recently, he was the Senior Director of Israel Education and the Holy Land Democracy Project, leading an intensive seminar and Israel experience for educators in non-Jewish institutions; he consulted and taught following the trip as the teachers integrated their experience into the classroom. ​He also edited the HLDP curriculum unit The Many Faces of Israel. Since its inception, the program has reached 241 teachers from 113 schools.
He represented the Jewish Federation in numerous interfaith capacities in civic settings, and helped create the Community Interfaith Passover Seder and Escape to Israel 1 & 2 during the COVID shutdown.
Prior to that, he was the first Director of Educational & Interreligious Programs at the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, where he managed the High Holy Days Sermon Conference, Hartman Beit Midrash Series, Christian and Jewish Leaders Mission to Rome & Jerusalem, and additional interfaith trips to the Middle East.
Other programming for clergy and community has included developing the "One People, One Book" literary program and creating its sourcebooks on S.Y. Agnon; Geraldine Brooks' People of the Book about the Sarajevo Haggadah; The World to Come by Dara Horn; Everything Has a Name: Great Poems of Jewish Life; and the "Def Jew Poetry Slam." With Rabbi Jon Hanish, he co-created and produced "It's A Guy Thing!," a father and son retreat.
Jonathan served as President of the Interreligious Council of Southern California; on the Mayor’s Task Force on the Middle East and the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission; the Institute for Faith-Based Diplomacy, Abrahamic Reconciliation Project; and the pilot text study program of NewGround and the Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement.
Jonathan has taught at Temple Kol Tikvah, Kehillat Israel, Wilshire Blvd. Temple, Nashuva, Storahtelling, the Brawerman Fellowship, and the Diller Teen Fellows. In 2021, he was the Ralph Bunche Guest Scholar at Los Angeles City College.
From 1996 to 2002, he was licensing editor for Paramount Pictures on the British publication The Official Star Trek Fact Files for its entire seven-year run of 391 weekly issues; he also wrote and/or edited the 9,000-plus entries in its "Star Trek A-Z."
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During the first half of his professional life, Jonathan worked at the Manhattan Theatre Club, the Actor's Studio, Williamstown Theatre Festival, among other theatres, and in film and television development and production. In 2024, he wrote Widen the Lens for the Holocaust drama Here There Are Blueberries. He is on the board of directors for theatre dybbuk,
Jonathan and his wife live in Los Angeles, with their two adult daughters nearby. The family visits Vermont as often as possible.
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