In 1935, Joseph Herscher and Lucy Strauss fled their native Germany for what was then Palestine. Most of their family members were not allowed to leave and perished at the hands of the Nazis. Over the course of the next nineteen years, the Herschers created a new home for themselves in Israel. It was there that they were married and gave birth to two sons, Uri and Eli. Eli was born just a few months before the establishment of the State and the outbreak of the War of Independence. The personal history of his family has always been, and remains, an integral part of his identity as a Jew, as well as an important source of inspiration in his life’s work.
In 1954, the Herscher family moved to the United States, settling in San Jose, California. Upon graduating high school, Eli attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned his undergraduate degree in English. In 1970, he entered the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion to begin his rabbinic education, studying for a year in Jerusalem, and concluding his studies in Los Angeles and Cincinnati. He was ordained a rabbi in 1975.
In June of that year, founding Rabbi Isaiah Zeldin invited Rabbi Herscher to Stephen Wise Temple to serve as his associate. In 1990, he became Senior Rabbi of the congregation, a position he held until 2015 at which time he became Senior Rabbi Emeritus. During his tenure, Stephen Wise Temple grew in membership and in its richness of religious and educational programming. Rabbi Herscher was instrumental in creating much of the programming that has made Wise unique. He was responsible for beginning its Scholar-in-Residence program, bringing the finest scholars from all over the country, as well as Israel, to the Temple. He helped to facilitate a warm and welcoming connection for all members joining and participating in the life of Stephen Wise Temple, a Reform congregation in Los Angeles.
Perhaps most important to Rabbi Herscher’s work has been his commitment to the quality of education in the Temple’s Schools. During his years as Senior Rabbi, the Stephen Wise community created supplementary and full-time school programs that now begin with families and their children at age three months, and continue with programs through Nursery, Elementary, and High School age. Rabbi Herscher’s and Bonnie’s children, Dawn, Adam and Sara, have all grown up in those Schools.
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