A New Leader for the Wexner Service Corps

It is with great excitement that we share the news that The Wexner Foundation has named Rabbi Sharon Barr Skolnik as the next Program Director of the Wexner Service Corps. She will assume the position this summer.

No stranger to working with the country’s rising Jewish leaders, Rabbi Sharon most recently taught Hebrew and Judaic Studies to second grade students at the Columbus Jewish Day School and previously to middle schoolers at the Jewish Academy of Orlando. She has also led Women’s Torah classes, interactive Tot Shabbat services, bar and bat mitzvah tutoring, religious school curriculum development and Women’s Shabbatonim/retreats. Rabbi Sharon strives to bring Torah to life for her students using innovative, in-depth text studies, drama, visual arts and creative writing and has been known to invite students into her house for hands-on instruction on creating a Jewish home.

“We are excited to pass the leadership torch of our Foundation’s innovative Wexner Service Corps from one outstanding Jewish educator to another. We are thrilled that Rabbi Sharon will be motivating and inspiring Jewish teens throughout Central Ohio and from all walks of Jewish life. We are fully confident that the extraordinary level of excellence in service learning programming established by Rabbi Michael Emerson will continue to expand under the leadership of Rabbi Sharon,” said Rabbi Elka Abrahamson, President of The Wexner Foundation. “We welcome her to our Foundation team and know she is well suited to engage our rising young leaders and shape them into community builders!”

Rabbi Sharon graduated cum laude from Brandeis University with a dual major in Near Eastern Judaic Studies and Hebrew Language and Literature. Growing up a native Hebrew speaker in a home with an Israeli father and fluent mother, she wrote one of the first Hebrew theses at Brandeis, about the intertwining of politics and culture with Israeli music. Rabbi Sharon was ordained from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2009.

“What a blessing it is for me to be able to begin work as the Director of the Wexner Service Corps,” Rabbi Sharon said. “I feel overwhelmed by this incredible opportunity to help guide and grow together with the future leaders of the greater Jewish community. Our task is great, but our desire to make a difference in the world is greater! I’m very looking forward to taking steps together that will impact Columbus and beyond.”

More information about the Wexner Service Corps is available here.