Rabbi Weinreb at Young Israel of Woodmere

Posted

By Yaffi Spodek

Issue of May 8, 2009 / 14 Iyar 5769

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb will serve temporarily in August and September as an interim rabbi at Young Israel of Woodmere, working with Rabbi Hershel Billet to facilitate the transition involved in Rabbi Kalman Topp's departure.

Rabbi Weinreb recently became Executive Vice President emeritus of the Orthodox Union and says he now has “fewer responsibilities and much less work, and a lot of time of my hands.”

“The shul approached me and said it would be great if I could fill in for August and September,” he told The Jewish Star, “since Rabbi Topp is leaving to California.”

The new position will technically begin on erev Shabbos Chazon and Rabbi Weinreb is scheduled to continue his rabbinic duties through Yom Kippur. Responsibilities will include giving shiurim and lectures, and “being available and accessible for whatever needs may arise and whatever comes along,” Rabbi Weinreb said. Since Rabbi Weinreb lives in Manhattan, YIW is providing him and his wife Chavi with a house in Woodmere where they will stay.

“We felt that a shul of our size needs proper coverage during the summer months,” said Shlomo Zuller, President of YIW. “We needed someone who would be able to step in right away, and be able to do the job, and Rabbi Weinreb has the prior experience from his work at the OU and as a pulpit rabbi in Baltimore.”

The interim appointment has been met with enthusiam, Zuller said. “Our shul demands the caliber of a person such as Rabbi Weinreb, and our membership is very excited about having him.”

Although the shul would ideally wish to hire a successor to Rabbi Topp as soon as possible, the search committee, co-chaired by Gerald Pinsky and Jacob Weichholz, realized that this could not be accomplished in so short a time.

“We knew that the search for Rabbi Topp's replacement would take a while, and we decided that if it took longer to find the proper replacement, we would wait it out,” said Zuller. “Myself, and George Wertheimer, the chairman of the board, pursued Rabbi Weinreb and felt he would be a perfect for what the shul needs at this time.”

The shul has begun the process of considering candidates to succeed Rabbi Topp but will not hold “probas” (public try-outs for potential candidates) until some time after Sukkot.

“The search process is well underway,” confirmed Weichholz. “We’ve received numerous resumes that we are vetting at this time. We hope to hire someone as soon as possible, but given the rapidly approaching summer and High Holidays, we can’t be certain how soon we will be able to. But we are certain that Rabbi Weinreb will serve the community well during this time.”