Aruba Youth Conference  -  Keynote Speaker  

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT FOR RABBI JOEL D. OSERAN

          Rabbi Joel D. Oseran is the Associate Director of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) and responsible for the organization’s international development and programming.  In 1986 Rabbi Oseran made aliyah  to Israel and joined the World Union Jerusalem headquarters as Director of Education.

          A graduate of the University of California – Los Angeles, he received his BA degree, cum laude, in History in 1971 and a Masters Degree in Education from the University of Southern California in 1974. He was ordained rabbi in 1976 from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, New York Campus and  received his Doctor of Divinity degree from HUC-JIR, Jerusalem, in 2001.

          After ordination, Rabbi Oseran served as Director of Student Affairs at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. He returned to the United States in 1981 where he served as Rabbi-Educator at University Synagogue in Los Angeles, California. During his work in Los Angeles, Rabbi Oseran was instrumental in creating the UAHC project for intermarried couples entitled “Times and Seasons.”

          Rabbi Oseran served as Project Director for the first Progressive Movement School in Jerusalem. The project developed into the Tali Bayit V’gan primary school, which numbers over 450 children.

          As head of the World Union’s international development, Rabbi Oseran directed the Progressive movement’s educational and religious programs in the Former Soviet Union, traveling to various parts of that region over 50 times. He has also played a leading role in directing Progressive Judaism’s support for the Jewish community in Argentina.

          While on Sabbatical leave from 1997-1998, Rabbi Oseran served as Rabbi for the United Jewish Congregation of Hong Kong and assisted Progressive Jewish communities in Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore.

          Rabbi Oseran lives in Jerusalem with his wife, Rachelle, and his three sons, Shai, Ilan and Ariel.

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