A Baltimore rabbi was appointed executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, the nation’s oldest and largest umbrella organization for American Orthodox Jewry, the OU announced Wednesday.
Rabbi Shmuel Silber of Pikesville will begin in this new role Nov. 2. He will be responsible for representing the OU’s vision on both Torah and public policy and providing hashkafic and halachic guidance within the organization and beyond, according to the news release.
He succeeds Rabbi Moshe Hauer, who died last October.
“I am honored to have this opportunity at such a unique moment for our community,” Silber said in the news release. “Rabbi Hauer, zt”l was a friend and a mentor, and I feel privileged to continue his holy work. Torah and Jewish life are thriving, yet we face difficult communal challenges. My sincere desire is to help create bonds of unity and continue elevating the holiness and religious experience of our community in the U.S. and Israel.”
Silber’s first year will be a “hybrid model” between working in the OU office in New York a few days a week and working remotely, allowing him to continue to spend time in Baltimore, the Jerusalem News Syndicate reported.
Silber joins the OU after serving for the past 23 years as the rabbi of Suburban Orthodox Congregation Toras Chaim in Pikesville.
“I feel a tremendous sense of responsibility to my shul. It’s my family,” he told JNS. “Obviously, my goal is to try to maintain an ongoing relationship with the shul in a way, of course, that doesn’t interfere with my responsibilities at the OU, recognizing the enormity of my position there.”
The OU is modifying its leadership structure. Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph, the current EVP and chief operating officer, will assume the role of CEO, with responsibility for the management of all OU programs and operations.
“Following the devastating loss of our beloved Rabbi Moshe Hauer, zt”l, we conducted an exhaustive national search to find a leader who could carry on his sacred work of spiritual guidance and public advocacy,” OU President Mitchel Aeder said in the news release. “Rabbi Shmuel Silber is a distinguished talmid chacham who possesses the rare combination of deep Torah scholarship, exceptional character, humility, and a warm, empathetic heart. We are thrilled to welcome him to the Orthodox Union as our EVP and are excited about the extraordinary potential of his partnership with Rabbi Dr. Joseph.”
In addition to the rabbinate, Silber is deeply involved in the Jewish community both in the U.S. and Israel. He is the founder and dean of the Institute for Jewish Continuity, which provides contemporary Torah learning with Chasidic influences for adults at all levels.
He is also the founding rabbi of Jerusalem’s Berger Towers community, encompassing nearly 400 modern residential units in the Katamonim neighborhood. Silber has served as a scholar-in-residence in cities throughout America, Israel and South Africa, and teaches ongoing classes at the Women’s Institute of Torah and Maalot in Baltimore.
“I walk into this Rosh Hashanah with a tremendous feeling of being overwhelmed at the opportunity to hopefully do something even greater for the Jewish people,” Silber told JNS.
zbell@midatlanticmedia.com
