Pesach Wolicki
Quick Facts
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Rabbi Pesach Wolicki (Hebrew: פסח ווליצקי; born 5 February 1970) is an educator, writer, columnist, lecturer, public speaker and pro-Israel activist. In previous positions, he served as the Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshivat Yesodei HaTorah from 2003 to 2015 and as the Associate Director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation (CJCUC) from 2015 to 2019. He is a columnist for The Jerusalem Post,The Times of Israel, Charisma News, and Breaking News Israel and is an outspoken figure in the world of Jewish-Christian interfaith relations.
Biography
Rabbi Pesach Wolicki was born in Ohio on February 5, 1970 to Marsha (née Dubow) and Rabbi Jerome B. Wolicki. During his early childhood years, he lived in Canada.
Education
Wolicki studied at Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh and later became a fellow at Darche Noam Kollel. He received his semicha (rabbinical ordination) from the Chief Rabbinate of Jerusalem.
Career
Wolicki served as a pulpit rabbi at Adath Jeshurun Orthodox synagogue in Virginia and as Development Director of Hillel Academy in Fairfield, Connecticut.
In 2003, he became Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Yesodei HaTorah. In 2015, Rabbi Wolicki became the Associate Director for the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation. He left this position in 2019.
In a September 2015 article for The Times of Israel Wolicki expounded his strong support of Rabbi Shlomo Riskin's global Day to Praise interfaith initiative fighting off claims of 'foreign fire' by the Haredi Jewish circles and citing, in regards to the initiative, that "While discomfort is understandable, we dare not assume that what is uncomfortable and new is therefore forbidden."
Blessing Bethlehem
In September 2016, Wolicki launched CJCUC's "Blessing Bethlehem" fundraising initiative at the LifeLight Festival in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in and effort to create a food giveaway program for persecuted Christians in Bethlehem.
Works
- Cup of Salvation (Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation, Gefen Publishing, 2017) ISBN 978-9652299352
Personal life
In 1994, Wolicki made aliyah to Israel.
Wolicki resides with his wife and eight children in Bet Shemesh.
