Berlin Rabbi Gesa Ederberg Elected First European Head of Conservative Rabbinical Assembly

Berlin – Rabbi Gesa Shira Ederberg has made history as the first European to lead the Rabbinical Assembly (RA), the international organization representing over 1,600 Conservative/Masorti rabbis worldwide. Her installation marks a significant moment for Jewish life in Germany and for the Conservative movement globally.

Ederberg was installed as president of the RA at Congregation Beth Sholom in Teaneck, Recent Jersey, on March 11, 2026, followed by a second ceremony in Berlin on Tuesday, where her synagogue received a Rabbinical Assembly Torah mantle to remain with her during her term. “I will see it every time we open the ark,” she said. “It will be a reminder of my new responsibilities.”

A Pioneering Career

Rabbi Ederberg is similarly likely the first convert to Judaism to hold the position of RA president. She currently serves as the rabbi of Berlin’s first official egalitarian congregation on Oranienburger Strasse. Her journey to the rabbinate began while pursuing a degree in Jewish studies, where she found herself increasingly involved in communal life, leading seders, teaching Hebrew, and organizing egalitarian minyanim.

Born in Tübingen, Germany, in 1968, Ederberg grew up in a Lutheran family. Her father facilitated youth exchanges between his church and Israel, fostering a connection to the country and its people from a young age. She later earned a master’s degree in Protestant theology before converting to Judaism in 1995 at the Jewish Theological Seminary.

She was ordained by the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem in 2003. Prior to her current role, she served as a pulpit rabbi in Weiden and was the first woman to hold a rabbinic position in Berlin since Regina Jonas, a Liberal rabbi murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

Symbolic Significance

The election of a European rabbi, and a Jew by choice, to lead the Rabbinical Assembly carries considerable symbolic weight. Deidre Berger, an American who has lived in Germany for over 40 years and serves on the boards of both the German and worldwide Masorti organizations, noted, “This is quite an extraordinary deal, actually, because there’s never been a non-American or non-Israeli to head the Rabbinical Assembly.”

Berger added that Ederberg’s election signifies a growing recognition of the revitalized Jewish life in Germany after the Holocaust. Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, CEO of the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, emphasized the movement’s embrace of Jews by choice, stating, “Welcoming converts is one of the ways in which our communities are growing and thriving.”

Family and Future Responsibilities

Rabbi Ederberg is married to Rabbi Nils Ederberg, who was ordained at Berlin’s Abraham Geiger College in 2014 and currently serves as a military chaplain in Hamburg. The couple has three children.

As president of the Rabbinical Assembly, Ederberg will play a crucial role in guiding the Conservative/Masorti movement and representing its rabbis worldwide. Her installation with the Torah mantle serves as a constant reminder of the responsibilities she now carries.