Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Communal & Volunteer Experience
Timeline
Generic

Rabbi Adam Wohlberg

1452 Joel Drive, Ambler,PA

Summary

Congregational rabbi who has taught students of every age; shared sermons and divrei Torah focusing on all aspects of Jewish life and the human experience; provided leadership for synagogue staff and members; developed classes and programs for the synagogue and the larger community; served communal organizations; officiated at lifecycle events; provided pastoral care; shared a love for Israel from the bimah and in the classroom; and led congregational missions.

Overview

41
41
years of professional experience

Work History

Rabbi

Temple Sinai
01.2002 - Current
  • Serve as teacher, counselor, pastor, administrator and spiritual leader for a congregation of 400 family units
  • Teach a weekly adult education class focused on Jewish current events
  • Serve as an instructor in the congregation's Religious School
  • Lead a weekly Preschool Erev Shabbat program
  • Work with Religious School director on the creation and implementation of family education offerings including a Naviathon, Tu B'shevat sedarim, and model weddings
  • Take an active role in fundraising and membership recruitment
  • Assist B'nei Mitzvah students with the writing of divrei Torah
  • Meet with and advise couples planning to marry, parents preparing to name a newborn or celebrate a brit milah, families preparing for a Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony, and members who have lost a loved one
  • Officiate at lifecycle events and family celebrations
  • Bring speakers and presenters to the congregation
  • Introduce programs like NESS (Nurturing Excellence in Synagogue Schools), a national initiative which helps synagogues upgrade their Religious Schools through teacher training, curriculum development, regular assessment, and enhanced partnership between congregants and the synagogue professionals responsible for education
  • Conduct weekday, Shabbat and Yom Tov services
  • Chant Torah portions and haftarot and serve as a shaliach tzibbur throughout the year
  • Provide pastoral visits to congregants at home, in hospitals, in nursing homes and in rehabilitation centers
  • Supervise cantor, assistant rabbi, educational director, and preschool director, providing them with a vision for greater youth and adult participation in services, enhanced family education offerings and stronger collaboration across the various sectors of the congregation
  • Partner with clergy of neighboring churches in creating and offering annual ecumenical Thanksgiving service
  • Serve as an instructor in the Conservative Movement's community conversion course
  • Lead missions to Israel and Morocco

Associate Rabbi

Congregation Beth Shalom
01.1997 - 01.2002
  • In tandem with Senior Rabbi served needs of congregation with 1100 membership units
  • Officiated at lifecycle events: britot milah, babynamings, B'nei mitzvah, weddings, funerals, and unveilings
  • Conducted weekday, Shabbat and Yom Tov services
  • Initiated Talmud class for adults with no prior knowledge of Talmud or Hebrew which ran for 7 years
  • Introduced post-bnei mitzvah for discussion of issues of the day as seen through a Jewish lens
  • Guided non-Jewish adults and their significant others through conversion process with year-long class on Judaism, as well as, private meetings
  • Visited college students on their campuses to maintain connection between these young adults and their synagogue and their clergy
  • Created with senior staff "Wednesday Night Alive" which brought all segments of the congregation into the synagogue on a weeknight for dinner and lively program featuring skits, music, contemporary prayer and informal presentation on a Jewish theme
  • Raised funds for the synagogue through a Torah restoration project which created two-million-dollar endowment fund
  • Created a Learning Minyan for Shabbat mornings
  • Organized Tikkun Leyl Shavuot nights of learning, featuring classes taught by congregants

Tefillah and Education Fieldworker

United Synagogue Youth
01.1985 - 01.1992
  • Organized services and taught classes at leadership training institutes and regional conventions
  • Prepared USYers to be shlichei tzibbur and ba’alei kriah, and to deliver divrei Torah
  • Staffed a two-week mission to the former Soviet Union

Teacher, Rosh Tefillah, Mashgiach, Bunk Counselor

Camp Ramah in the Poconos
06.1984 - 08.2003
  • Served four summers as a bunk counselor
  • Spent two summers organizing camp-wide services and working with the counselors of each division to enhance the tefillah experience
  • Supervised the kashrut of the camp kitchens
  • Taught mishnah to the oldest group of campers

Education

Rabbinic Ordination and M.A. -

Jewish Theological Seminary of America
New York, NY
01.1995

Bet Hamidrash L’limudei Yahadut
Jerusalem, Israel, 1992-1993

B.A. - Sociology

University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
01.1988

Rothberg School for Overseas Students

The Hebrew University
Jerusalem, Israel, 1986-1987

Communal & Volunteer Experience

President

Rabbinical Assembly, Delaware Valley Region

  • Led an Executive Committee responsible for programming, educational opportunities and oversight of region-wide conversion program
  • Served as spokesperson for the Conservative Movement in the greater Philadelphia area
  • Oversaw distribution of scholarships to the children of colleagues for Day School and Camp Ramah enrollment


Rabbinic Chair

Kehillah of Bux-Mont Programming Committee

  • Co-chairperson of regional programming committee which brings together rabbis and lay representatives of 8 synagogues (Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, Lubavitch), leaders of Jewish communal agencies in the area, and Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia personnel to plan educational programs, organize and run trips to Israel, work on community-wide initiatives, and promote cohesiveness across denominational and institutional boundaries


Nominating Committee

Philadelphia Board of Rabbis


Nominating Committee

Rabbinical Assembly


Chairperson

NIMEH (Northbrook Interfaith Ministry for Emergency Housing)

  • Chaired committee responsible for raising and distributing funds used to provide temporary emergency housing for families and individuals in the community and to keep other families and individuals from being evicted from their homes


Timeline

Rabbi

Temple Sinai
01.2002 - Current

Associate Rabbi

Congregation Beth Shalom
01.1997 - 01.2002

Tefillah and Education Fieldworker

United Synagogue Youth
01.1985 - 01.1992

Teacher, Rosh Tefillah, Mashgiach, Bunk Counselor

Camp Ramah in the Poconos
06.1984 - 08.2003

B.A. - Sociology

University of Pennsylvania

Rabbinic Ordination and M.A. -

Jewish Theological Seminary of America

Bet Hamidrash L’limudei Yahadut

Rothberg School for Overseas Students

The Hebrew University
Rabbi Adam Wohlberg