Acclaimed Educator Appointed CEO of Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh

By COLlive reporter

The Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh has announced a new leadership team at the school beginning September 1.

The school’s board voted unanimously to appoint Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum as the school’s new CEO.

Rabbi Rosenblum will succeed Rabbi Yisroel Rosenfeld, who has led Yeshiva Schools for more than 40 years and will continue to serve the Chabad community as the head shliach of western Pennsylvania and the rabbi of the Lubavitch Center of Pittsburgh.

A veteran educator and global innovator in progressive Jewish education, Rosenblum grew up in Pittsburgh and attended Yeshiva Schools as a youth.

Internationally, Rosenblum is recognized for creating the Zekelman Standards, which are the benchmarks used to shape best practices for Judaic studies. His work includes professional development with teachers, student engagement and training within and outside Chabad, including more than 50 Jewish day schools throughout the United States. Trained by the New York Leadership Academy, he has served as principal of the Yeshiva Boys School for 25 years, and was educational director and head of the Yeshiva Schools for the last five years.

“Moving forward, we felt it was vital to have an accomplished educator at the helm of Yeshiva Schools and we are very pleased that Rabbi Rosenblum has embraced this role,” said Mrs. Chaya Engle, Yeshiva board member and chief compliance officer. “At this time of growth, we recognize with gratitude the commitment Rabbi Yisroel Rosenfeld has made during his decades of leadership.”

Working with teams that include several hundred parents, Yeshiva Schools recently completed a strategic plan that blends the traditions of the past with the needs of the future and goals of the new leadership team.

“For students at Yeshiva Schools, it is a religious expectation that we work with humility and continuously strive for excellence,” Rosenblum said. “As a community, we bring that belief to life by teaching students to contribute to our community and to society as a whole. Our goal is inspiring lifelong learning for every student.”

Yeshiva Schools serves as the heart of a community that extends beyond traditional school hours and maintains a high level of parent involvement. The school has taken a leadership role in adapting educational needs around COVID-19 and it has developed a strategic plan that focuses on student care, parent engagement, academic excellence, human resources, governance, leadership and organizational design and financial management. Collectively, this parent-led initiative is critical to reaching the goals Yeshiva Schools has set for its students, families and broader communities.

“In 2007, Rabbi Rosenblum took a look at a broad network of yeshiva day schools with thousands of students and realized that no scalable system of clear academic standards existed,” said Norman Atkins, co-founder and CEO of Teacher U, founder of Uncommon Schools and journalist featured in widely read national publications. “He took action to develop clear, rigorous standards and put forth a tool that teachers and schools use internationally to drive instruction with data. This major paradigm shift stems from his understanding that for Jewish education to be successful, educators need to begin with the end in mind.”

In addition to Rosenblum’s role as CEO, Yeshiva Schools has announced new roles and expanded responsibilities for other current team members. They include Dr. Chaim Oster, who has previously served as a member of the board of directors and has accepted the role as president of the board of directors, as well as Rabbi Chezky Rosenfeld, who was formerly the director of development and has been promoted to chief operating officer.

“Our schools are unique in our offering of both strong Judaic studies and traditional education,” explained Rosenblum. “This pursuit of excellence is the fabric of our faith. In the years ahead, I look forward to working with our families, global alumni, and the broader Chabad and Pittsburgh communities, as we create the yeshiva of the future and guide our youth to spread light into the world.”

Yeshiva Schools is based in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill community. It includes The Early Learning Center, a middle school, and girls and boys high schools. Collectively, the school educates 450 students, employing 125 people annually while attracting Jewish families to the region.