Rabbinic Team
Rabbi & Rebbetzen Wollenberg - Senior Rabbinic Couple
Rabbi Mordechai & Rebbetzen Blima Wollenberg joined Woodford Forest in August 2015, the first Rabbinic couple to serve the newly-merged community, having served previously as Rabbi & Rebbetzen of Cardiff United Synagogue and Liverpool's Childwall Hebrew Congregation for a combined 12 years.
​
Rabbi Wollenberg grew up in Oxford and attended Carmel College where he developed his interest in Judaism and Jewish Learning. He then attended yeshivot in Israel and America and university in Birmingham where he gained a BSc in Computer Science. He was inspired by other rabbis and chaplains he encountered to become more involved in the Jewish community which ultimately led to his
studying for semicha and becoming a communal Rabbi.
​
Rebbetzen Wollenberg was born in California and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona attending school in Chicago. She grew up in a community where her family were one of only a few observant families, so is used to being in a diverse Jewish setting.
​
Their nine ka"h children were born in Cardiff, Liverpool and London. They enjoy celebrating family simchas with the community. They see their rabbinic role as a family team, involving everybody in activities, education and inspiring others.
​
They also see their role as extending to the wider community and to this end they visit local JBD facilities regularly, have organised Shabbat UK activities for a wide range of groups including JLGB, Sinclair House, local Jewish primary schools and the shul's own Tuesday Lunch Club. They also work with many other local organisations for the good of the whole community. Rabbi Wollenberg was also a governor of King Solomon High School.
​
​
Rabbi Adam Hill - Pastoral Rabbi
Rabbi Adam S Hill has been the Rav of Potters Bar & Brookmans Park United Synagogue since 2005, having previously led Birmingham Central Synagogue and Leicester Hebrew Congregation.
Brought up in a United Synagogue, Rabbi Adam experienced how a community can be a friendship, welfare and educational hub for its members. He was enthused to follow in the path of his former community Rav to be involved in bettering the lives of the Shul members.
After spending time in Yeshivat HaMivtar in the Judean Hills, which crystallised his love and appreciation of Israel, Rabbi Adam then completed both the BA (Hons) in
Jewish Studies and the Semikhah programmes at Jews' College, London. His greatest benefit of being at Jews' College was meeting Shosh, who was taking the B Ed (Hons) degree, and they married soon after graduating.
The Hills have five wonderful children, two highly-valued children in law, three precious, beautiful grandchildren and two cats.
Championing the notion that "The world is built on three pillars: Torah, Service and Good Deeds" (Avot), Rabbi Adam sees that all parts of community life are important. So, as well as the Shul services and education, he has always been heavily involved with the social and welfare aspects - from bingo-calling to challah making, from raising funds for various charities to delivering groceries during the Corona virus lockdowns.