In June Rabbi Josh Joseph was promoted to vice president of Yeshiva U. by President Richard Joel, placing him on the forefront of campus development while he continues managing the president’s office as chief of staff.
“It’s not about me,” insists Rabbi Joseph, who received smicha from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) and a master’s in Jewish Philosophy from the Bernard Revel Graduate School. “It’s about making YU the best YU it could be, to make President Joel the best leader he could be,” he says.
Rabbi Joseph’s other objective as vice president, along with continuing to supervise the President’s office and actively reaching out to deans, faculty and staff, is to reach out to the students themselves.
“I’m feet away from all these batei medrash [and there are] classrooms all around,” says Rabbi Joseph, who spent four years learning at Yeshivat Har Etzion in Israel, yet, “if I don’t hear what’s actually going on, then how can I make it better?”
In years past, Rabbi Joseph visited the Stern College campus to meet with the heads of the student council committees. “As a small school, we have a chance to work with students to help them figure out who they are and develop themselves,” he says.
“Now Josh is going to go to [YU leadership and students], hopefully, and sit with them in their office,” to listen to their issues, comments Daniel Gordon, presidential fellow to the vice president.
As a senior undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, Rabbi Joseph shared an independent study with Frank Luntz, a famous pollster and political consultant, putting together a survey of all the Ivy League universities that was covered by US News & World Report and The New York Times, among other major media outlets. “Through that process I got to see a lot of campuses and meet many students,” said Rabbi Joseph. In his opinion, none of the student bodies surveyed compared to the YU student body. “I can honestly say that I’ve never been around a more engaged, thoughtful, energetic, creative and talented group,” he asserted.
Rabbi Joseph believes that his previous experience as a community rabbi lends him important personal skills to deal with all sorts of people as vice president and chief of staff. He is also grateful for his experience on Wall Street running a hedge fund, which taught him lessons in organization and professionalism.
“I’ve spent some time both on Wall Street and in the Rabbinate and have worked with amazing people doing fascinating things; but the opportunities, talents and passions I see around me at YU are some of the most breathtaking and overwhelming I could ever imagine,” Rabbi Joseph said.
Above all, Rabbi Joseph considers himself fortunate to work closely with President Joel, whom he describes as, “a president who gets it, whether ‘it’ is avodas Hashem, Torah learning, student life, messaging, corporate culture, customer service, the personal touch, the ‘West Wing,’ and on and on.”
President Joel released a statement in June announcing Rabbi Joseph’s promotion. “All of you who have had dealings with Josh know he is the best of colleagues and an effective leader, valued for his sound judgment, discretion and insight,” he wrote in the statement, which was sent to YU staff. “I know you join me in wishing Vice President Joseph every success.”
Rabbi Joseph’s new position will ensure the best functioning of the YU leadership team. His previous duties as chief of staff were vital to the uninterrupted flow of events within and without the university, requiring him to manage President Joel’s office. “I think an hope that [my activities] helped to the point that I was then able to work with others in the leadership of the university” as vice president, stated Rabbi Joseph.
In addition to working with the YU leadership, Rabbi Joseph hopes to have a more involved role in issues that may arise. “It’s about making that transition from being reactive to people’s questions and problems to being proactive and hearing…first-hand, on the ground, in the grassroots – what’s going on.”
Rabbi Joseph already has a history of proactively effectuating growth at YU. He first became part of the YU administration after meeting President Joel at the Orthodox Caucus – where Rabbi Joseph served as executive director from 2003 to 2004. The two men kept in touch, and eventually Rabbi Joseph was asked to become director of special projects at the Center for the Jewish Future (CJF) in 2004, his first position at the university. There he headed student social entrepreneurship to further the creation of student societies, an initiative that gave birth to the medical ethics society.
During his second position as chief of staff in 2006, he began a government-relations task force along with Vice Presidents Andrew Lauer and Jeffrey Rosengarten, charged with developing and maintaining communication channels between the YU community and the government. President Joel asked Rabbi Joseph to direct the presidential fellowships, and he remains director still with the vision to “encourage and develop the future of the Jewish community, both on the lay and professional leadership side,” he says.