Rabbi David Hoffman appointed Honey Foundation president

THE HONEY FOUNDATION for Israel — launched in 2016 with the aim of strengthening alternative religious communities in Israel — has appointed Rabbi David Hoffman as its new president.

Founded by Bill and Amy Lipsey of Livingston, the Honey Foundation is committed to pluralism and elevating the status and impact of the role of non-Orthodox rabbis in Israel and developing diversity in the Jewish community field.

Hoffman previously served as vice-chancellor of the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary, where he was ordained and earned his Ph.D. in talmudic and rabbinic literature and served as a core faculty member and adviser for almost 20 years. He has taught and lectured throughout North America and has spent extensive time living and studying in Israel.

“Talented spiritual leaders who can bring religious and spiritual leadership to the project of meaning-making are best positioned to create communities of Jewish meaning…,” said Hoffman. “Working with Israeli Jews who are creating a dynamic Israeli Judaism and building open Israeli Jewish communities is a tremendous personal blessing.

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“It is also our hope that focusing the American-Jewish community on the possibilities of Israeli Judaism will…build more bridges between these two great Jewish communities.”

The Lipseys’ daughter, foundation president Sarah Lipsey Brokman of Livingston, said, “Rabbi Hoffman’s passion for furthering the connections between all Jews makes him a perfect addition [who will] raise the issue of open access to Jewish life in Israel to the forefront of the conversation in the Jewish world.”

The Lipseys are longtime members of Congregation Agudath Israel in Caldwell, where Bill Lipsey served as synagogue president; he has also sat on the executive committee of the Masorti Foundation for Conservative Judaism in Israel.