Rabbi Bill Berk

Rabbi Bill Berk grew up in southern California. He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley. He holds a Life-time California Teaching Credential which he earned at California State College at Hayward. He earned an MA in Hebrew and a Doctor of Divinity from the Hebrew Union College. Rabbi Berk was ordained at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati where he won awards in homiletics and social action.

Rabbi Berk served for twenty-three years as the Senior Rabbi of Temple Chai in Phoenix, Arizona. This was a time of enormous growth and expansion for the congregation.  Rabbi Berk did pioneering work in the area of recovering prayer and Kabbalat Shabbat, adult learning, assisting Jews with special needs, developing the caring/healing congregation, and using retreats to strengthen community. In 2003 he won the Covenant Award which is given to three top Jewish educators in North America. From 2004 to 2010 Rabbi Berk was the Director of the Center for Rabbinic Enrichment for the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Rabbi Berk joined Keshet, The Center for Educational Tourism, in September 2010. He serves as an educational consultant, outreach coordinator, and directs Keshet's Bar/Bat Mitzvah Trip programs.
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Rabbi Berk made aliyah to Israel in 2006, and was subsequently named Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Chai. He has five children.​

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