Two of the biggest local “Jewish” stories of 1993 may well be the coordinated Jewish community response to the “Great Flood,” and the announcement of the appointment of Barry Rosenberg as executive vice president of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.  

Rosenberg’s initial appointment as professional head of the Federation was made by then-President Michael N. Newmark, who was co-chair with JFed past President Mike Litwack of the Search Committee.  Due to an unanticipated act of nature gone wild, Newmark at the time was spearheading the local Jewish response to the devastating flood.  Under his leadership, JFed pleged to match all donations up to $10,000 to the St. Louis Bi-State Chapter of the American Red Cross Disaster Fund.

“There is only one response for the Jewish community of St. Louis to the unfolding tragedy of the flood of 1993,” Newmark said. “Let’s help!”  

If Newmark became the Jewish community’s modern-day Noah during the flood of 1993, Rosenberg became a very able First Mate. Rosenberg, 42 at the time of his 1993 appointment, had served as executive director of the Jewish Federation of North Jersey, and already had a total of 18 years of experience of Jewish communal service. 

Prior to entering Jewish Federation work, Rosenberg had served as B’nai B’rith Youth Organization regional director and assistant regional director, serving 800 teenagers in more than 30 local chapters within New York City.  “In these times of fiscal constraint, it is critical that Federation and community leadership—lay and professional—forge a shared vision of the future.  St. Louis has strong agencies and synagogues; top-notch professional and rabbinic leadership and nationally recognized lay leaders,” he said at the time of his appointment.

Rosenberg deployed his considerable organizational, fundraising and planning skills during his two decades at the professional helm of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.  In addition to presiding over successful annual Jewish Federation campaigns, which exceeded previous records despite the downturn in the economy, the Federation endowments grew substantially, providing a vital “third pocketbook” to fund innovative Jewish projects for the future.  In an early interview with the Light, Rosenberg shared his passionate belief in the value of a “federated system of agencies, locally, nationally and internationally.”  He cited the immediate response to such challenges as the Soviet Jewish exodus, which brought over 1 million Jews from the former Soviet Union to Israel and 250,000 to the United States; and the overnight emergency funding of Operation Moses, the historic airlift that rescued over 100,000 Ethiopian Jews from the Sudan and brought them safely to start new lives in Israel.

Rosenberg remained steadfastly loyal to a strong partnership with the State of Israel through the Partnership 2000 Program of sister communities in Yokeam and Megiddo. He also led numerous St. Louis missions to Israel and convened community-wide rallies to deal with the crisis of the Second Intifada, which stalled the once-promising peace process.

Rosenberg also championed efforts to develop new leadership programs, including the Millstone Institute, which strengthened ties between Federation and its agencies, and Jewish professional development, through the JPro St. Louis program funded by the Lubin-Green Foundation.

After a distinguished 20-year career as professional head of the Federation, Rosenberg retired as president and CEO of the JFed in September 2012, and has continued to serve as senior advisor to his successor, Andrew Rehfeld. “We are grateful for Barry Rosenberg’s service to our community, fortunate that he will be remaining in St. Louis, and look forward to his active involvement as a lay leader with the start of the Jewish Year,” said Rehfeld at a recent tribute.

Rosenberg, who will formally retire in August, plans to pursue teaching locally and scholarship on issues of non-profit leadership.