Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

GAINESVILLE—The Board of Directors of the University of Florida Hillel have appointed Rabbi Adam Grossman as the agency’s next executive director and CEO. Grossman, currently the associate rabbi of Temple Israel in Memphis, will begin the position in the first week of July 2014. The University of Florida Hillel serves one of the largest Jewish student communities in the world.

“Rabbi Grossman is a dynamic, passionate, and energetic leader and we are thrilled to have him at the helm as we grow the University of Florida Hillel to be the premier Hillel in the country,” said Allan Goldberg, president of the University of Florida Hillel Board of Directors.

Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of Hillel International, said, “Rabbi Grossman is the kind of innovative, creative, inspiring Jewish professional who brings a special passion to the job of building the next generation of young American Jews. Hillel is thrilled he is joining us and that he will be leading one of the most important Hillel’s across our worldwide movement.”

Grossman’s appointment as executive director and CEO comes at a time of great promise and opportunity for University of Florida Hillel. Grossman’s passion, entrepreneurial spirit and expertise will further accelerate the effort to develop new approaches to engaging Jewish college students and to become a center of innovation, leadership and creativity in the Hillel movement as well as in the larger Jewish community.

“My passion is to engage and inspire young Jewish people to develop their Jewish Identities,” said Rabbi Grossman. “It is an honor and privilege to join the University of Florida Hillel where we can build on our enormous success developing the Jewish leaders of the future.”

Throughout his career as an entrepreneur, public relations specialist, and most recently an associate rabbi, Grossman has used innovative and creative solutions to get meaningful results. For the past 6 years at Temple Israel in Memphis, Grossman led groundbreaking and nationally recognized initiatives to engage Jews of all ages. His portfolio includes developing a “How-to” Jewish video series, integrating Jewish Teach for America Corp members with synagogue life, and creating the nationally recognized Temple Israel (TI) Fellowship in which 16 outstanding young adults participate in an all-encompassing Jewish professional, communal and social summer experience. His passion to connect young adults to the Jewish community led to the creation of the “Memphis Jewish Community Six-Pack,” a low-cost and simplified approach to connecting to multiple Jewish and non-Jewish religious, educational and cultural organizations. The program won a Union of Reform Judaism Belin Outreach and Membership Award. Grossman and his wife Amy have two daughters, Zohara (7) and Lyla (5) and a Dalmatian named “Koufax.” Grossman loves sports, is big fan of college football, and an avid collector of LPs and 45s.