H eadlines
Rabbi Gabe Greenberg to Lead Penn Hillel
L OCA L
JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
RABBI GABE GREENBERG
assumed the role of executive
director at Penn Hillel on April
1, and had served as interim
executive director since Jan.

1. But in a sense, he’s been
preparing for the job for years.

“Taking this position felt
like just an incredibly exciting
opportunity,” Greenberg,
39, said. “As someone who is
passionate about the Jewish
future and about Jewish educa-
tion, Penn Hillel is the place to
do those things. The commu-
nity of alumni and parents
are just very supportive and
diverse, and this just feels like
a great situation to step into.”
Greenberg is the grandson
of a pulpit rabbi, and has tried
his hand at congregational
life himself — five years at
Congregation Beth Israel in
New Orleans — but has spent
the majority of his professional
life in Hillel. Prior to his time
in New Orleans, Greenberg
was the senior Jewish educator
at the Hillel of University of
California, Berkeley, and has
been at Penn Hillel since 2019.

He was originally brought on
as the director of the Jewish
Renaissance Project and
Rabbinic Innovation Fellow.

“Gabe has demonstrated
strong leadership skills and
brings a passion for educating
and engaging all students
around traditional and unique
expressions of Judaism,” Hillel
International President and
CEO Adam Lehman said in a
press release. “We look forward
to supporting his efforts to
sustain and grow the Penn
Hillel community and build on
its rich tradition of inspiring
young Jewish leaders.”
The Newton, Massachusetts,
native studied history at
Wesleyan University, later
traveling to Israel with the
Pardes Institute and Yeshivat
Hamivtar. Greenberg was
ordained at Yeshivat Chovevei
Torah in the Bronx, New York.

In the Big Easy, he served on
the boards of the Federation of
Greater New Orleans, the Jewish
Community Day School of
New Orleans and the Rabbinic
Council of New Orleans.

Today, Greenberg lives in
West Philadelphia with his
wife, Abby Streusand, and
their three children. Though
the majority of his time in
Philadelphia has been spent in
quarantine, he’s found working
with the students at Penn Hillel
to be a fruitful, energizing
experience. “Penn students are incred-
ibly driven,
incredibly motivated, eager, passionate to
learn, to grow, to build and to
be successful,” he said. “And it
truly feels, in a non-exagger-
ating way, that at Penn Hillel,
every day, we are helping grow
and support the next generation
of American-Jewish leadership.”
Greenberg replaces Rabbi
Mike Uram, a nationally
recognized leader in Jewish
education who left Penn Hillel
after 17 years in December to
become the chief vision and
education officer of Pardes
North America. Greenberg
said he didn’t know he would
replace Uram when he assumed
the interim role, but that he’s
grateful to have been selected.

“Our rigorous, comprehen-
sive search process confirmed
that Rabbi Gabe is the perfect
person to continue Penn Hillel’s
strong legacy and to lead the
organization’s next exciting
chapter,” Leora Zabusky, chair
of the executive director search,
said in a statement.

In terms of his vision for
Penn Hillel, Greenberg is
Rabbi Gabe Greenberg
Photo by Dina Ley
As someone who is passionate about the
Jewish future and about Jewish education,
Penn Hillel is the place to do those things.”
RABBI GABE GREENBERG
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still working out what the
post-Uram world will look like.

He’s diplomatic on the subject.

“I look forward to building
upon the legacy that Mike Uram
and Jeremy Brochin before him
and other fantastic Penn Hillel
directors before them have
built, and doubling down on
our commitment to serving and
supporting every Jewish student
at Penn regardless of their
background, affiliation or knowl-
edge base,” Greenberg said.

Penn Hillel, according to
Greenberg, is “one of, if not
the, preeminent Hillels in the
world,” and he has big shoes
to fill. l
jbernstein@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
10 APRIL 15, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM