Danielle Weisbrot of Long Island Named Rabbi at B’nai Sholom

Newly Ordained Spiritual Leader to Guide, Teach and Counsel 50-Year-Old Congregation

B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation in Albany joyously welcomes Danielle Weisbrot of Long Island to lead the community as its new rabbi.

Weisbrot’s appointment was approved by the congregation at a special meeting, held March 24, and will take effect July 1, 2021.

Weisbrot will succeed Rabbi David Katz, who has guided the congregation for the past year as interim rabbi following the June 2020 retirement of Rabbi Donald Cashman.  Rabbi Cashman served as B’nai Sholom’s spiritual leader for 35 years.

“Words cannot do justice to the warmth and positive energy that we know Danielle will bring to her rabbinate.  She loves to help guide a congregation in worship, she loves to teach, she loves to sing and she loves to bake.  This is the beginning of a wonderful partnership, and we are so looking forward to Danielle joining our community and our future,” said Julie Novkov, president of B’nai Sholom.

“B’nai Sholom is a welcoming and dedicated congregation with a passion for tikkun olam – repairing the world.  I am honored and excited to be their new rabbi and to become part of the Albany community,” said Weisbrot.

Weisbrot is a senior rabbinic student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in New York and will be ordained as a rabbi in May.  She hails from New Hyde Park, Nassau County, where she has been an active participant in her synagogue and often led services when their settled rabbi or cantor was away.  She worked for 10 years primarily in the non-profit educational sector before beginning rabbinic training.  As a student rabbi, Weisbrot held the pulpit for two years at North Fork Reform Synagogue in Southold, Suffolk County, where she led services, taught and proved instrumental in transitioning the congregation to virtual services during the pandemic.

Weisbrot is particularly focused on social justice issues.  Throughout her time at

HUC-JIR, she volunteered in the student-run soup kitchen on the campus, rising to the position of head chef.  Weisbrot describes her work as “a labor of love.”

Weisbrot holds a Master of Arts degree in Hebrew literature from HUC-JIR, where she received multiple awards, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, graduating summa cum laude with a major in English and a minor in Judaic studies.