We are thrilled to announce that Rabbi Ben Greenberg will be Central Synagogue’s new Director of Adult Engagement (DOAE). Rabbi Greenberg is a writer, consultant, and educator. He most recently served as a planning executive at UJA-Federation of New York, where he helped more than 80 synagogues in New York City design and execute engagement programs, fundraising campaigns, and professional development opportunities.

As Director of Adult Engagement, Rabbi Greenberg will act as a thought partner to the clergy team in conceiving and developing adult programs. Currently, Central Synagogue offers more than 35 unique opportunities for adults through various platforms such as lectures and courses, conversion classes, Melton, Adult Bar and Bat Mitzvah, and many other formal and informal programs. Rabbi Greenberg will work closely with Director of Youth and Family Education Rabbi Rosenthal toward the alignment of a shared and integrated vision of engagement for all Central members and will determine initiatives to involve and educate adults in new and creative ways throughout their lives.

Rabbi Greenberg will lead the new Department of Adult Engagement by managing an exceptional team, including Rabbi for Community Engagement Rabbi Marion Lev-Cohen, Director of Exploring Judaism & Conversion Studies Rabbi Lisa Rubin, Manager of Adult Education Samantha Sterling and Rabbi Nicole Auerbach, who joins us in a new position as Rabbi of Small Groups. Rabbi Auerbach, who was Central’s Rabbinic Intern this year, will graduate from HUC-JIR this spring and join Central in this new full-time position, helping our congregants connect with each other in meaningful ways.

Rabbi Greenberg comes to Central with a wealth of experience in adult engagement and community organizing. He previously served as a congregational rabbi in Denver and as the campus rabbi at Harvard University. He is a member of the New York Board of Rabbis, a recipient of a CLAL: Rabbis Without Borders Fellowship in 2010, and is on the Board of Directors of the International Rabbinic Fellowship as the Coordinator of the Vaad HaGiyur (Conversion Committee).

Rabbi Greenberg is the author of Covenantal Promise and Destiny: Wisdom for Life (Lulu, 2010) and editor of Twitter Torah (Lulu, 2009). He has also written for Time Magazine, The Denver Post, The Boston Globe, and is a regular blogger for Patheos, MyJewishLearning.com, and The Huffington Post.

We want to thank our DOAE Search Committee, chaired by Jon May, which included Ken Heitner, Alan Herman, Laurie Lindenbaum, Richard Markowitz, Claudia Morse, Jesse Rothschild, and Moses Silverman. The Committee worked diligently and thoughtfully to find the professional best-suited for the Director of Adult Engagement position.

I hope you will join me in extending a warm Central Synagogue welcome to Rabbi Greenberg when he joins us on June 1.