Peretz Wolf-Prusan

Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan is a child of the West. As a boy in his father and grandfather’s Los Angeles sign shop, he discovered an aptitude for graphic design. In high school, Peretz’s work with special education students inspired him to pursue computer engineering at UCLA, majoring in engineering and minoring in art.

At the same time, Peretz became involved in Jewish education as an art specialist and storyteller at Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) youth retreats. As UAHC Camp Swig’s art director (1973 – 77), he was involved in all aspects of Michael Zeldin’s innovative informal education program. At Swig, Peretz met another mentor, Helen Burke z”l, the camp’s Artist-in-Residence.

In the 1970s Peretz was a printmaker and sofer, producing original ketubboth. His work can be found in the collection of the Skirball Museum and is documented in Shalom Sabar’s book Ketubbah: The Art of the Jewish Marriage Contract. He also attended the San Francisco Art Institute and taught Hebrew calligraphy for Lehrhaus Judaica. His Guide to Hebrew Lettering (UAHC Press) was published in 1982. His work at Congregation Beth Am (Los Altos Hills, CA), which brought together art, informal education, and the religious school’s teen education program, is described in The Jewish Educational Leader’s Handbook (A.R.E. Publishing).

In 1979 Peretz met the most important person in his life, Rebecca Wolf. The year of his Covenant Award is their twentieth wedding anniversary. They are the parents of three children: Leora, Avital, and Noah.

In 1985 Peretz completed his undergraduate degree at San Francisco State University, Center for Experimental and Interdisciplinary Art, and entered the rabbinic program at HUC-JIR in Cincinnati, OH. With the encouragement of his teacher and colleague, Rabbi Samuel Joseph, Peretz experimented in family education, receiving the Roland Gittelsohn Prize for Congregational Projects in Education. For his leadership in revitalizing the Cincinnati Reform Jewish High School, he received the Ferdinand

M. Isserman Prize for Community Relations. His mentor and rabbinic thesis co-advisor, Rabbi Eugene Mihaly z”l, encouraged Peretz to experiment in the form and content of tefilah and siddur design. For this he received the Israel Bettan Memorial Prize for Pulpit Presentation. Professors Sara Lee and Isa Aron of the Rhea Hirsch School inspired him to further experiment in congregational education.

As the educator for Congregation Emanu-El, in San Francisco, CA, since 1990, he has created innovative programming, including the Family B’nei Mitzvah Program, Mitzvah Corps, the Guide Rabbi Program, and the Emanu-El Family Israel Trip. Additionally, he developed the Madrichim student-teaching program, the Halutzim adult teacher-training program, and the Mitzvah Mentor young adult-teen mentoring program. He also developed and leads the Shabbat Morning Minyan and the alternative High Holy Day Services.

Peretz continues to grow professionally as a Rabbinic Fellow in the Center for Rabbinic Enrichment (CRE) of the Shalom Hartman Institute and as a Whizin Consultant, serving on the faculty of the Whizin Institute for Jewish Family Life.