Rabbi Joe Wolfson grew up in the UK and spent years studying Torah in Israel at Yeshivat Har Etzion and Bet Morasha, where he pursued semicha from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. He also earned degrees in political philosophy from Cambridge and UCL. Torah and philosophy. It’s a combination that shows up in everything he builds.
In 2015, Rabbi Joe and his wife Corinne moved to New York to direct JLIC Downtown at NYU’s Bronfman Center. They thought it would be a year. It turned into seven. The community they built didn’t follow any playbook. There were Gangsters & Gedoilim tours through downtown Manhattan’s Jewish history, Jewish Eats culinary experiences, the 929 daily Tanakh program, and Killing Covid With Kindness volunteer projects during the pandemic. That last one got Rabbi Joe named to the Jewish Week’s 36 Under 36.
In 2022, Rabbi Joe, Corinne, and their three kids (Mika, Tal, and Barak) moved back to Israel. He launched JLIC’s first young professional community in Tel Aviv.
Rabbi Joe has been running point for over 1,000 JLIC volunteers across five Israeli cities. His approach is simple but deliberate: before launching any new initiative, he asks whether the basics are being addressed. Do people have food? Clothes? What do they actually need right now? The work started with that kind of practical crisis response, showing up for the injured and bereaved, families of hostages, IDF units, and evacuated communities. But the work didn’t stop after that first visit. His team turns those initial connections into real relationships, staying involved as needs shift and change.
Rabbi Joe founded Abraham’s House because he knows young Jews want to do something that matters. Abraham’s House gives them the way to do it.