WASHINGTON — J Street announced today that Rabbi Lawrence Troster will join the pro-Israel, pro-peace lobby as Rabbinic Director, effective immediately.
In this newly created position, Rabbi Troster will spearhead efforts to build and cultivate rabbinic leadership within the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement. He will work closely with J Street’s 650-member Rabbinic Cabinet and its field organizers to strengthen J Street’s presence in synagogues and other Jewish community institutions across the country.
“Larry brings a truly unique and pertinent set of skills and experiences to J Street,” said Rachel Lerner, vice president of J Street Education Fund. “His background as a congregational rabbi, an educator and a political activist together position him to take J Street’s work with rabbis and their congregants to a whole new level.”
Rabbi Troster is one of this country’s leading Jewish eco-theologians and religious environmental leaders. He is the former director of GreenFaith’s Fellowship program, where he also served as Rabbinic Scholar-in-Residence for eight years. Previously he served as a Rabbinic Fellow at the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL).
Rabbi Troster has published numerous articles and lectured widely on eco-theology, bioethics, and Judaism and modern cosmology.
Previously Rabbi Troster was the Jewish Chaplain of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson and the rabbi of several congregations in New Jersey and Toronto. He was also the Advisor to Students and Adjunct Lecturer the Rabbinical and Graduate Schools of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, He was recently honored by the Temple of Understanding as an Interfaith Visionary.
Rabbi Troster received his BA from the University of Toronto and his MA and rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He was recently given an honorary Doctor of Divinity by JTS for his more than 25 years of rabbinic service. He is currently pursuing a D. Min. in Ecological Ministries at Drew Theological School.