Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback works with 1,600 families in his job as senior rabbi at Stephen Wise Temple. He also lives in one of the largest Jewish communities in the Diaspora, Los Angeles. However, growing up, he wasn’t exposed to many Jews like himself.
Born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Zweiback and his family moved to Omaha, Nebraska when he was a young child.
“I joke that the Jewish population of Omaha is roughly the same as the membership of Stephen Wise Temple,” he said. “Roughly, there are 6,000 Jews there.”
The rabbi was one of only a few Jews in his grade at school. When he wore a yarmulke or the holidays were coming up, he felt singled out for being Jewish.
“The kids would say, ‘Hey, what’s with that beanie on your head?’ … When I was in the second grade, my teacher asked me to explain the theology of Hanukkah. I feel like I didn’t really have the expertise to teach it.”
Overall, aside from those few isolated incidents, the rabbi had a happy childhood in Omaha. He spent his time going to the local JCC on the weekends and his reform synagogue, Temple Israel. He also participated in Jewish youth groups and attended Jewish summer camp.
“Camp and youth group had a profound effect on my Jewish identity. They gave me the greatest sense of belonging and the deepest feeling of meaning and purpose.”
“The first year my mom sent me to summer camp, I was homesick and I cried every single day,” he said. “When I got home, she said, ‘Good news, I’ve already signed you up for next year.’ By the second year, I had a great time. Camp and youth group had a profound effect on my Jewish identity. They gave me the greatest sense of belonging and the deepest feeling of meaning and purpose.”
Zweiback majored in religious studies at Princeton University, and then went straight into rabbinical school. He was ordained at the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC) and received an M.A. in Jewish Education at the HUC’s LA campus. He worked at his childhood synagogue, Temple Israel, as well as Wilshire Boulevard Temple Camps in Malibu. In 2009, he moved to Israel with his family to become the director of HUC’s Year-in-Israel program.
“We lived there for three wonderful years,” he said. “We would have stayed longer, but this exciting opportunity at Stephen Wise presented itself.”
The rabbi has been at Stephen Wise Temple for a decade. He spends much of his time working closely with the families of the 500 students who go to the Wise School.
“Since I’ve been here for 10 years, I’m now officiating the bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies for kids who were with me at the parenting center,” he said. “It’s very meaningful to me.”
Every day presents new challenges and opportunities to the rabbi; he may be helping with families with life cycle needs, participating in the school’s classes or preparing a sermon about what’s happening in the news.
“I’m responding to the needs of the day,” he said. “It’s part of my experience in the rabbinate.”
One Torah teaching that most resonates with Zweiback comes from Psalm 100, which says to serve God with joy.
“You need to find a way to make your service to the eternal a lasting service,” he said. “We should devote our lives to that service and find a way for it to give us a sense of simcha and joy.”
Zweiback lives his life with gratitude – he is thankful to work at a job he loves and to fulfill his higher purpose.
“I’m very lucky to do the work that I do,” he said. “Sometimes, especially in the harder moments like a painful life cycle moment where you’re supporting a family in a time of loss, it’s harder. But I find ways to experience that service with a sense of gratitude and gladness. I get to be there with someone and help.”
Fast Takes with Yoshi Zweiback
Jewish Journal: What’s your favorite Jewish food?
Yoshi Zweiback: Hummus. One of the things that make Jewish hummus a little bit different from other forms of hummus is that it has a high tahini content, which gives it a peanut butter taste.
JJ: What’s your perfect Shabbat look like?
YZ: It could be anywhere in the world, as long as my family is there with me.
JJ: What superpower would you like to have?
YZ: I’d want to fly.
JJ: Where would you fly?
YZ: To Infinity and beyond.