Bill Text: VA SJR235 | 2024 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending Rabbi Israel Zoberman.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-03-08 - Bill text as passed Senate and House (SJ235ER) [SJR235 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-SJR235-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, Rabbi Israel Zoberman, founding rabbi of Congregation Beth Chaverim and Temple Lev Tikvah, both of Virginia Beach, commemorates 50 years in the Rabbinic ministry in 2024; and
WHEREAS, born in Kazakhstan to Polish Holocaust survivors, Israel Zoberman spent his early years in transit and displaced persons camps in Austria and Germany before his family later settled in Haifa, Israel; and
WHEREAS, Israel Zoberman made history as the first rabbi to earn a doctor of ministry degree from McCormick Theological Seminary, a seminary affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, USA, foretelling a career dedicated to fostering interfaith ties throughout the community; and
WHEREAS, Israel Zoberman founded Congregation Beth Chaverim in the early 1980s, a reform synagogue that met at the Church of the Ascension in Virginia Beach from 1985 to 1995, making it one of the only synagogues in the world at the time to meet in a Catholic facility; and
WHEREAS, while at the Church of the Ascension, Israel Zoberman exemplified his commitment to interfaith relations by inviting Muslim members of the community to join his congregation in the first Jewish-Muslim joint prayer to be held in the Tidewater area; and
WHEREAS, Israel Zoberman is notably the first rabbi to serve as chair of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater; the first rabbi from Hampton Roads to serve on the board of directors of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs; and the first rabbi to serve as president of the Virginia Beach Clergy Association; and
WHEREAS, Israel Zoberman has served his community as president of what is today the Board of Rabbis and Cantors of Hampton Roads and as a volunteer police chaplain with the Virginia Beach Police Department; and
WHEREAS, Israel Zoberman has received numerous honors in recognition of his efforts as a faith and civic leader, including the 1989 Great Citizen of Hampton Roads award from Cox Cable and an honorary doctor of divinity degree from his alma mater, the Jewish Institute of Religion at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati; and
WHEREAS, in 1999, as a testament to his impact, Mayor Meyera Oberndorf of Virginia Beach proclaimed April 23rd as "Israel Zoberman Day" in honor of his 25th anniversary in the Rabbinic ministry; and
WHEREAS, in 2019, Israel Zoberman founded Temple Lev Tikvah, a reform Jewish congregation, where he has continued his mission to provide the community with spiritual guidance and opportunities for fellowship and outreach; and
WHEREAS, over the past half-century, Israel Zoberman has remained steadfast in his efforts to promote positive interfaith relations and to support leaders and congregations of other faiths, while remaining equally devoted to the betterment and well-being of the entire Hampton Roads community; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Rabbi Israel Zoberman on the occasion of his 50th anniversary in the Rabbinic ministry; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Rabbi Israel Zoberman as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for his legacy of service and for his many contributions to the Commonwealth.
