Philip Warmflash

Rabbi Philip Warmflash remembers being very young and standing with his parents at the very back of the synagogue on Rosh Hashana, several miles from the front of the room, watching a man pick up and blow the biggest shofar that ever existed. When he heard that sound, it touched him in ways that he could not understand then. From that moment he wanted to get closer to that shofar, closer to the action at the front of the room, closer to community. It began a journey that led from that synagogue to Camp Ramah, to Israel, to his undergraduate years at Brandeis University, and MA and Ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary.

At the Los Angeles Hebrew High and the L.A. Federation’s Youth Department, Phil worked with teens and Youth Professionals, using formal and non-formal study as a foundational component to create a dynamic, united Jewish youth community. Phil’s L.A. journey also led him to meet Amy, his wife, his partner, and the person who, through her love and her support, continues to encourage him to follow his vision. In 1993 his journey, now with daughters Ariel and Jordana, led Phil to become the Executive Director of the Community Hebrew Schools of Philadelphia. Now known as the Jewish Outreach Partnership, this organization helps congregations offer front-row seats to everyone interested in becoming part of the Jewish community. Through workshops that build congregations’ outreach skills and publications that help individuals translate Jewish life into action, JOP helps to increase involvement in Jewish life.

Over the last fourteen years, Phil has been blessed with amazing gifts: personally, the birth of his third beautiful daughter Mira, and professionally, the chance to work with a talented staff and volunteer leaders who are always willing to take risks. Phil has had incredible opportunities, including: teaching with the talented consultants of the Whizin Institute, now the Consortium for the Future of the Jewish Family; serving as rabbi for the high holidays at his home congregation; and consulting and teaching in communities around the country. He has worked with the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Literacy Network to develop a meaning-based curriculum for tefillah and Jewish celebration, and he has taught this curriculum in a myriad of communities nationwide.

Looking back, Phil remembers his feeling as a child hearing the sound of that shofar. Upon reflection, he hears that shofar in each aspect of life, in the voices of his wife and his children, in the words of his teachers and friends and those with whom he works. Phil feels his responsibility is and hopes will continue to be, to help others hear the shofar, or, to paraphrase the midrash (Exodus Rabba 5:9), to hear the voice of God in a way that speaks uniquely to them, and that leads them to take new steps on their Jewish journey.