Rabbi Joshua Herman, executive director of Hillel Milwaukee, will step away from that role in June, to become head of school for Milwaukee Jewish Day School, starting July 1.
Herman served at the helm of Hillel Milwaukee since March 2023, where he guided the student community through the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. The attacks were followed by protesters setting up a large encampment that was visible from the Hillel Milwaukee building; intimidation of Jewish students on campus; and responses to it all from school administrators that at times sorely disappointed many in the Jewish community. Despite the challenges, multiple Chronicle visits to Hillel Milwaukee have found it a place of students breezily cooking, chatting, laughing, and enjoying Judaism and each other.
Milwaukee Jewish Day School, in Whitefish Bay, serves a pluralistic Jewish community, offering education for 3-year-old pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Jori Broidy has served as its interim head of school since July 2024, when Aaron Lippman left to serve as chief executive officer for Carmen Schools of Science and Technology.
Though Hillel Milwaukee is beside the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus, which became a flashpoint for post-Oct. 7 discord, the organization serves college students and young adults throughout the Milwaukee area.
Hillel Milwaukee has started a search for its new executive director, said its board president, Stacey Mirviss-Jossart.
“We just really appreciate all that Josh has done for our students, staff and community. His amazing ability to bring people together is something that I am still in awe of,” Mirviss-Jossart said. “He truly is a gift to our community, and I can never thank him and his family enough for his contributions to Hillel Milwaukee.”
Herman spent several years living in Israel, teaching courses at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. Also before his role at Hillel Milwaukee, he was a senior educator and director of research and assessment at The Israel Education Resource Center, also known as the The iCenter. There, he developed educational resources, administered program assessments, and contributed to alumni relations and institutional research.
He is a native Milwaukeean. In the years before his professional experiences, he engaged with the Jewish community as a student at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
In June 2024, while leading Hillel Milwaukee, Herman wrote an article for the Chronicle, “A difficult school year, with hope and gratitude.” His piece reflected the historic, unexpected moment, discussing “protests just days after the Oct. 7 attack, which called for Israel’s destruction”; “disgusting antisemitic statements from a panelist invited by the university”; and when students were “encircled by protesters calling for ‘intifada’ until we needed police protection to flee campus.”
Yet, he also wrote: “I joined Hillel to build a beautiful Jewish community, and the experience of doing so in such trying times has led me to realize that I am only able to do so because of the beautiful Jewish community which raised me, and which currently supports me. Someday, soon I hope, the protests on campus will calm down and the university administrators who have acted improperly will be held accountable. Meanwhile, our students will continue to support one another and celebrate their Judaism. Despite all the challenges, as serious as they are, our amazing community and incredible students have me feeling something wonderful: I am grateful.”
In March, after it was announced he was leaving, Herman sent an email to the Hillel Milwaukee community, acknowledging the moment as “bittersweet.” He asked for continued support for Hillel Milwaukee: “I feel blessed to have held this role, to be a part of this community, and to continue working to ensure that the future of Hillel, our community, and the Jewish people, is bright.”
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