Why Nolan Lebovitz left Hollywood to become one of America's most influential rabbis

Nolan Lebovitz always had a plan for what his life was going to be.

First, he would attend film school at University of Southern California. Then get a job in Hollywood, marry, have a kid and get a house.

On the surface, he was living the American dream. But something was missing.

"Is this what I'm supposed to be doing with all of the gifts that I have?" Lebovitz remembers saying. "Was I put on earth to pitch horror films for the rest of my life?"

He had the life, the career and the status, but still, nothing satisfied him. 

"That began a process of real soul-searching," he said. "A lot of people can suppress the feeling, and a lot of do suppress it for a long time in their life. A lot people kind of push it out and say, I want to keep doing what I'm doing, and reject it."

Yet after a Hollywood meeting, he felt called into a Jewish owned bookstore. Lebovitz, the descendant of four Holocaust survivors, had always had faith central to his life. With his career, however, he had been searching for answers elsewhere.

"I walked in there and perused the shelves awkwardly," he said. "And I asked the rabbi, Rabbi Kraft, who's working in the bookstore….what should I be reading? And he looked at me like I asked the dumbest question in the entire world. And he said to me, you should be reading the Torah, the Bible, the five books of Moses."

"And in many ways, it was a journey to bring me back home," he added.

Lebovitz made the decision to leave Hollywood behind – attend rabbinical school, and commit himself to his faith.

Now, he's the Senior Rabbi at Valley Beth Shalom in southern California.

BIGGER THAN BELIEF

On this week's episode of Bigger Than Belief with Adam Duxter, Rabbi Nolan shares his story – from start to finish – and shares his take on faith in 2026. You can find the entire episode now by searching Bigger Than Belief wherever you get podcasts.

Bigger Than Belief is a weekly podcast exploring faith, belief, and religion – all through the stories of believers. With an emphasis on understanding belief through personal experience, we aim to create a conversation about faith that is fair, honest, and easy to understand - regardless of what you do (or don't) believe. We'll also take a journalistic approach to concepts and questions that are difficult to understand, while helping to make sense of current events impacting believers in our communities.