In 2004, after hearing of the slaughter and unrest in Darfur, Sudan, Rabbi Schulweis charged his congregation, Valley Beth Shalom, with forming a Jewish “world watch” to raise awareness of the atrocities.  From that beginning grew Jewish World Watch, initially a synagogue- based organization dedicated to raising awareness and funds to protest the first genocide of the 21st century and bringing vital assistance to its survivors.

In addition to founding JWW, Rabbi Schulweis was also the founding chairman of the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, an organization that identifies and offers grants to those non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews threatened by the agents of Nazi savagery. He has been honored by both the religious and secular communities for his humanitarian efforts in these and other arenas.

Rabbi Schulweis was a much beloved spiritual leader and teacher at Valley Beth Shalom. He was a prolific and decorated author, editor and contributor to a number of magazines, and one of the best known pulpit rabbis in America.

Read Rabbi Schulweis’s Founding Sermon 
Listen to Rabbi Schulweis’s Founding Sermon

His influence spread far and wide, as evidenced by this article relating how he inspired Bruce Springsteen.

He passed away December 18, 2014, leaving behind his wife Malkah (z”l), three children, many grandchildren, and a bereaved community. You can watch Janice’s eulogy for him here.