Rabbi Gerald C. Skolnik
Rabbi
Gerald C. Skolnik, spiritual leader of The Forest Hills Jewish Center, was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1981. Immediately upon his ordination, he served as Assistant Rabbi under the late Rabbi Ben Zion Bokser for almost three years. With Rabbi Bokser's death in 1984, Rabbi Skolnik assumed the rabbinic leadership of the congregation, and has served in that capacity ever since.
In addition to his responsibilities at The Forest Hills Jewish Center, the largest Conservative congregation in Queens, Rabbi Skolnik is involved in numerous communal activities. A past president of the Commission on Synagogue Relations of UJA-Federation , past chairman of its Committee on AIDS and member of its Board of Directors, he also serves on the Board of Trustees and Executive Board of the Solomon Schechter School of Queens, and the Board of Governors of the New York Board of Rabbis. He is the Vice-President of the Rabbinical Assembly, the international organization of Conservative rabbis, a Vice President of the Zamir Choral Foundation, a vice-president of MERCAZ, the Zionist arm of the Conservative movement, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Masorti Foundation.
Rabbi Skolnik has published numerous articles- he is a frequent contributor to the print edition of The Jewish Week- and he writes a weekly column for the Jewish Week's online edition under the heading of "A Rabbi's World." He has lectured extensively throughout the New York area, and has appeared on national radio and television. His collaborations with the Western Wind Vocal Ensemble on "The Chanukkah Story," "The Birthday of the World: Music and Traditions of the High Holidays," and "A Taste of Eternity: A Musical Shabbat," have received wide critical acclaim. These productions, commissioned by Public Radio International, feature scripts written by Rabbi Skolnik, and read by Theodore Bikel and Leonard Nimoy.
Rabbi Skolnik is married to Robin Segal Skolnik, the Middle School Librarian at the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in Manhattan. They have four children: Hillel, who attends the Rabbinical School at the Jewish Theological Seminary and is married to Sharon, who was ordained in 2009; Leora, who is a research associate for Synagogue 3000 and is married to Yonatan Warren, a forth year rabbinical student at JTS; Talya, who is completing her first year at Barnard College; and Matan, who an entering his senior year at the Heschel High School in Manhattan. They also have a grandchild, Dafna Zahava, daughter of Hillel and Sharon.
Rabbi Skolnik's sermons for Rosh Hashanah Day 1 & Day 2 and Yom Kippur.
Rabbi Skolnik's sermon on the legacy of Rabbi Ben Zion and Kallia Bokser in our community can be found here.
Rabbi Skolnik's sermon on the Gaza Flotilla incedent can be found here.
