Shelley Waldenberg

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Ordained in 1962 at HUC-JIR, New York, Shelley Waldenberg served as a chaplain with the U.S. Army at Fort Riley Kansas, and then in Germany from 1962 to 1964.  After military service, he became Rabbi at Temple Beth El in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, where he served from 1964 to 1968.

A fellowship to Hebrew university in Jerusalem in 1068 led to a teaching position at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he taught from 1968 to 1971.  In 1972 he became Senior Rabbi at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, California, where he served from 1972 to 1991.

At Temple Isaiah, he helped to establish extensive programs, including: a weekly Family School that drew national attention; Chavurot; Outreach to the Intermarried; a Para-rabbinic program; a program to assist refugees from the Soviet Union.  In the greater community an ongoing monthly program of dialogue and study with local churches; protest rallies at the Soviet Consulate in San Francisco on behalf of Soviet Jewry and more.

He retired in 1991, becoming Rabbi Emeritus at Temple Isaiah.  He went on to teach Jewish Studies at Holy Names University in Oakland from 1995 to 2011, as well as serve as Principal Educator of the Catholic-Jewish Educational Enrichment Program of the American Jewish Committee from 2000 to the present time, building bridges of understanding and trust at Catholic high schools throughout the Bay area.  He has served as Visiting Rabbi at synagogues in Richmond, Redding, Berkeley, and Napa, California, as well as Ashland, Oregon.