Rabbi Eric Yanoff received his rabbinic ordination and an MA in Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City in 2004. While at JTS, Rabbi Yanoff interned at Temple Israel in White Plains, served as a hospital chaplain at Westchester Medical Center, and taught Bible, Talmud, Philosophy, and Drama at the Solomon Schechter High School of New York.
A 1998 graduate of Princeton University, Rabbi Yanoff majored in Comparative Literature with a concentration in Jewish Studies, focusing his thesis work on the theme of childhood memory in French Holocaust survivor literature. As President of the Princeton Triangle Club, Rabbi Yanoff also co-wrote and produced several musical comedies that toured around the country. He continues to pursue his loves of playing piano and composing music and lyrics.
From 2004 to 2010, Rabbi Yanoff served Congregation Shaarey Zedek in the suburbs of Detroit, where he led several trips to Israel for teens, adults, and clergy colleagues. In 2010, he and his family moved to Philadelphia to join the beautiful Jewish community at Adath Israel. Since arriving at Adath Israel, he has felt blessed to be part of such a vibrant, energized, and diverse synagogue community that is growing – in numbers, depth, and Ruach (spirit).
He is Past President of the West Bloomfield Interfaith Clergy Association and Community Forum and currently serves as the Rabbi for Golden Slipper in Philadelphia, as well as on boards and committees for Camp Ramah in the Poconos, the Rabbinical Assembly, and Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. He is currently Co-President of the Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia.
Rabbi Yanoff was also named a STAR-PEER Fellow, joining an interdenominational cohort of rabbis to study with world-renowned rabbis, sociologists, and organizational practitioners to gain a skill set to address key challenges posed by contemporary American religious life. He also joined a Young Rabbis’ Delegation of American Jewish World Service, traveling to Ghana to work in a school for rescued child slaves and those who are in danger to be sold into slavery. Rabbi Yanoff believes passionately in the ability of the Conservative synagogue to re-imagine itself to meet the needs and questions of the next generation of Jews.
Rabbi Yanoff met his wife, Dava, while on staff at Camp Ramah in the Poconos. He and Dava, a nursing student and dance teacher with an MA in Early Childhood Education, teamed up to design and implement the drama and Judaics curriculum at Ramah. They were married in September of 2003. In January 2007, Dava and Eric were blessed with their first son, Aiden Lev, followed by the arrival of Ezra Matan in December 2010 and Avi Ronen in April 2014. In November 2018, they welcomed their daughter, Anael Sarit.