Rabbi Josh Scharff

Rabbi Josh Scharff

Rabbi Joshua Scharff (he/him) serves as Assistant Rabbi at JCP Downtown in Lower Manhattan. He is originally from St. Louis, Missouri and is proud to have called Israel home for the past near decade. Rabbi Josh was ordained in November 2024 by the Israeli Rabbinical Program at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. He did his student rabbinical work at Beit Daniel in Tel Aviv-Jaffa and Kehilat Kodesh v’Chol in Holon. Previously, Josh taught Jewish History at URJ Heller High, and served as a campus coordinator for The David Project, helping college students strengthen their Israel advocacy through relationship building. Josh holds a BA in History from Yale University, where he was a 4-year member of their varsity baseball team, and an MA in Jewish History from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Israeli and American flags blended into one photo

I Have No Other Land

Rabbi Josh Scharff
This year, Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel's Independence Day, finds me in a place that the past 10 years have not: in my birth country, the United States. My journey to and from Israel includes chapters that people can instinctively understand: a year of protesting judicial overhaul in Israel, the events of October 7th, and the bitter war in which we are still immersed.

Aliyah to Israel is a Reform Value, Too!

Rabbi Josh Scharff
There are a few days in my life that stand out. There are the big milestones: my first days of school, going to camp for the first time, and my first homerun. Another one of those dates that stands out is December 28th, 2015. That was the day that I made aliyah and became an Israeli citizen.

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