Who We Are; ISO Board Memebers
Rabbi Avi Weiss
Chairman of the Board, Rabbi Avi Weiss is Founder and President of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah – the Modern and Open Orthodox Rabbinical School. The school has already placed 36 rabbis across the country. He is the Senior Rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, a Modern and Open Orthodox congregation of 850 families. He is also National President of AMCHA – the Coalition for Jewish Concerns, a grassroots organization that speaks out on behalf of Jewish causes and Israel. Rabbi Weiss was recently named by Newsweek magazine as one of the fifty most influential rabbis in America, describing him as “Orthodox’s leading activist and leader of the Modern Orthodox community.” Rabbi Weiss has authored three books – Women at Prayer, a halakhik analysis of women’s prayer groups, Spiritual Activism: A Jewish Guide to Leadership and Repairing the World which has just been released by Jewish Lights Publishing, and The Haggadah for the Yom HaShoah seder. He has also authored numerous papers, articles and editorials published in journals and newspapers around the world. Rabbi Weiss is married, with children and grandchildren.
Rabbi Reuven Fink
Director, Rabbi Reuven Fink is the religious leader and Rabbi of Young Israel of New Rochelle, a vibrant orthodox congregation of over 650 families. Rabbi Fink also serves as Adjunct Instructor in Talmud at Yeshiva University. Rabbi Fink received his B.A. from Brooklyn College; M.S., from Yeshiva University; and was ordained from Mesivta Rabbi Chaim Berlin. Rabbi Fink is married, with children and grandchildren.
Director, Julie Weiss is a member of the education community for the past 30 years. She holds a Masters of Science degree in Education from the Azrieli School of Jewish Education of Yeshiva University in N.Y.C. She is currently a Doctoral Candidate in Education, at the Azrieli School of Jewish Education. Mrs. Weiss served as assistant teacher from 1997 until 1999 in Azrieli’s Masters Program specializing in the field of Curriculum Development and Methodology. From 1982 until 1997, Mrs. Weiss was the Educational and Administrative Director of Gan Miriam, an early childhood day care center located at that time in the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, in Bronx, N.Y. Her responsibilities ranged from teacher recruiting, hiring and training, to the intricacies of budget planning, curriculum development, methodology design and overseeing their implementation in the classrooms. From 1988 through 1998, Mrs. Weiss also taught Holocaust studies at Westchester Day School in Mamaroneck, NY to 8th graders. Mrs. Weiss also served as acting Director of the Westchester Day School early childhood center from 1997 to 1998. Mrs. Weiss authored ‘From Golah to Geulah’ in 1993. This represents her Masters thesis – a curriculum guide for 8th grade students, focusing on armed Jewish resistance during the Holocaust and the armed Jewish underground movements in Israel before 1948, leading up to the war of independence. Mrs. Weiss’ background in various fields is an asset to the I.S.O., serving as treasurer for the organization. From August 1973 until January 1975 Mrs. Weiss was the Secretary to the Treasurer of the N.Y. branch of Israel Aircraft Industries. Prior to that, from 1970 through 1972 she served as head of the Statistics Laboratory at Bar-Ilan University, in Israel. Mrs. Weiss is married, with children and grandchildren.