Kosherica Magical French Heritage Riverboat Cruise

SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE

 

Rabbi Steven Weil

Steven Weil comes to Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) following an 11-year tenure at the Orthodox Union. The son of a German cattle dealer, Steven grew up on a farm in Upstate New York. He attended Yeshiva University, concurrently completing his ordination at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (REITS) and a Master’s in Business Administration from NYU’s Stern School of Business.

 

Steve began his career teaching, and then moved to pulpit work, first in Michigan and then in Beverly Hills, California. In 2009, Steve and his family returned to the East Coast to assume the position of Senior Managing Director of the Orthodox Union, where he led their institutional advancement and community engagement efforts.

 

Steve is deeply passionate about Jewish continuity, and engagement within and outside the Jewish community. He is an ardent proponent of Jewish education and the future of the Jewish people – its younger generation. With his life-long love and devotion to the state of Israel, Steve has channeled his talents and energy into fostering governmental and organizational relationships, in support of the Jewish homeland.

 

Steve is thrilled to be part of the FIDF family, and is excited to channel his skills in institutional advancement as well as his vast experience in the Jewish community to support Israel and its heroic guardians, the men and women of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

 

Steve resides in New Jersey with his wife and is a proud father and grandfather.

 

 

Rabbi Aubrey Hersh

Rabbi Aubrey Hersh was born and raised in the United Kingdom. For the past 25 years he has been based at the JLE in London, where he is currently Senior Lecturer, and has lectured internationally on History, Philosophy & Halacha.

 

Since 2003, Rabbi Hersh has run more than 350 heritage tours across Europe, as well as specialising in Holocaust Education working with the Imperial War Museum and Sir Martin Gilbert.

 

Starting in May 2021, he developed a very popular Jewish History podcast: “History for the Curious“, which now has over 10,000 weekly downloads. The topics range across the spectrum of the last two and a half thousand years and serve a diverse global audience.

DESTINATION INFORMATION

Paris – The jews of France are today living mostly in Paris center and its suburbs, and another part is in Lyon (a city in the south, 2 hours away from Paris). Jews in Paris are living in different parts of the town. The historical Jewish quarter is le Marais neighborhood, with its old narrow and winding streets, where the Yiddish culture was once highly represented.

 

Giverny is a village in the region of Normandy in northern France. Impressionist painter Claude Monet lived and worked here from 1883 until his death in 1926. The artist’s former home and elaborate gardens, where he produced his famed water lily series, are now the Fondation Claude Monet museum. Nearby, the Musée des impressionnismes Giverny highlights the Impressionist art movement.

 

Rouen– Endowed with a prestige established during the medieval era, and with a long architectural heritage in its historical monuments, Rouen is an important cultural capital. Rouen’s rich historical heritage makes it an unmissable destination. Classified as a historic monument, the Palais de Justice is an emblematic site that bears witness to Rouen’s royal history.

 

Beaches of Normandy– The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was, and still is, the largest seaborne invasion in history.

 

Palace of Versailles – Since 1979, the Palace of Versailles has been listed as a World Heritage and is one of the greatest achievements in French 17th century art. Louis XIII‘s old hunting pavilion was transformed and extended by his son, Louis XIV, when he installed the Court and government there in 1682. A succession of kings continued to embellish the Palace up until the French Revolution. Today the Palace contains 2,300 rooms spread over 63,154 m2.