The Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor is thrilled to welcome Rabbi Asher Lopatin to its professional team as Director of Community Relations, starting early March 2024.
Most recently, Asher served as the Executive Director of the JCRC/AJC of Detroit. He is the founding and current rabbi of Kehillat Etz Chayim of Detroit, as well as the founding director of the Detroit Center for Civil Discourse. A Rhodes Scholar and a Truman Fellow with an M. Phil in Medieval Arabic Thought from Oxford University, Asher has also done doctoral work at St. Antony’s College, Oxford, in Islamic Fundamentalist attitudes towards Jews and Israel. He has written chapters for over 20 books and numerous articles.
Prior to moving with his wife, Rachel, and their four children to Detroit, Asher served as president of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, and, before that, served as the rabbi of Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel Congregation in Chicago. He received ordination from Rav Ahron Soloveichik and Yeshivas Brisk in Chicago, and from Yeshiva University. Asher is a permanent member of The Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Coalition for Black and Jewish Unity.
Asher is as excited about joining our team as we are to welcome him. He says, ” The work of community relations and advocacy never has been more important, and I am eager to continue it at a critical time for a community that is home to University of Michigan, one of the nation’s most significant universities, as well as Eastern Michigan University, an important academic institution in its own right, and a diverse, dynamic Jewish community.”
Asher can be reached at asher@jewishannarbor.org.