Gerald I. Weider served 28 years as the Rabbi of Congregation Beth Elohim. He joined Rabbi Eugene J. Sack in 1978, just as the Brownstone Revival movement hit the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. Rabbi Weider sparked the revitalization of Congregation Beth Elohim through innovative programming and services which met the needs of urban Jewish families. Under his leadership, Congregation Beth Elohim grew to become the largest and most active Reform synagogue in Brooklyn.

Rabbi Weider is a native of the Bronx. While growing up in the Bronx he attended Yeshiva Zichron Moshe.

During his teen age years, while living in Fort Lee New Jersey, Rabbi Weider became an active participant in Young Judaea, the Zionist Youth Movement sponsored by Hadassah. It was this involvement that ultimately lead Rabbi Weider to the Rabbinate. While in Young Judaea, Rabbi Weider lead local clubs, regional programs and attended numerous national camps and institutes. In college, at Rutgers University, Rabbi Weider continued to work for Young Judaea, becoming the President of their college age program and eventually representing Young Judaea at the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem.

While at Rutgers, Rabbi Weider met Rosalie Daumann one morning in Jewish History class. (She sat in front of him!) After graduating from Rutgers University with a B.A. in History, Rabbi Weider attended the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati to study for the Rabbinate. During his first year at HUC, he married Rosalie, and settled down in the Queen City. The Weider's first son, Avi, was born in Cincinnati.

Rabbi Gerald I. Weider was ordained in 1973 from the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati Ohio. He served two congregations before coming to Congregation Beth Elohim. His first congregation was Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline Mass. where he served as the Assistant Rabbi. His second pulpit was Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington D.C. where he served as the Associate Rabbi. While in Washington, the Weider’s second son, Alex was born.

During his first sabbatical, Rabbi Weider was granted a prestigious Merril Fellowship at Harvard Divinity School. He was in residence at Harvard Divinity for the spring semester of 1998, along with the other four Merril Fellows from all over the United States. After completing his Merril Fellowship, Rabbi Weider was granted a Doctor of Divinity degree from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in the spring of 1998. Rabbi Weider’s second sabbatical in 2006 was spent studying rabbinic literature and the Hebrew language in Jerusalem at the Hebrew Union College. In addition, he studied Islam at the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Weider’s hobbies include skiing, bicycling, and travel. Rabbi and Rosalie Weider are also part time residents of Park City Utah. They have been going there since 1984 and have been involved with the creation of a synagogue in Park City, Temple Har Shalom, a synagogue that now has grown big enough to have a full time rabbi and a vibrant Jewish life.

Upon retirement from Congregation Beth Elohim, Rabbi Weider assumed the position of Senior Rabbinic Consultant to the Rabbinic Cabinet of the United Jewish Communities (UJC). In this role Rabbi Weider will work on the national level with over nine hundred rabbis (Reform, Conservative and Orthodox) in planning conferences, missions to Israel, and educational programs that explain the work of UJC and UJA to rabbinical students.

Rabbi Weider and Rosalie plan to remain in Park Slope and they look forward to witnessing the continued growth and development of Congregation Beth Elohim.