Yosef Kleiner () or Iosef Kleiner (Eduardo José Kleiner) (born December 20, 1963) is an Israeli rabbi, psychologist, actor and intellectual born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 20, 1963. Between 1994 and 2020 he was the rabbi of the Comunidad Israelita Sefaradí, in Chile; Congregation Adat Shalom Emanuel in Rehovot, Israel; the Union Libérale Israélite de France (ULIF) in Paris and Congregation Moreshet Avraham in Jerusalem.
Between 2000 and 2002 was a member of the Meimad Party Assembly, in Israel. In 2003 he was candidate of the independent party Kol Harehovotim to the Municipal Council of Rehovot.
Since 2000 he had also several acting roles in Israel and has done many voice over and dubbing Works, both in Spanish and in Hebrew. At the same time he worked as a psychologist both in private and public practice in Israel.
Between 2015 and 2023, Yosef Kleiner was lecturer on Talmud at the A. J. Heschel Rabbinical School of the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano.
In November 2022 he published his book "Y volverás a elevarte" (in Spanish), an analysis and interpretation on the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, bringing a different and renewed view on the personalities that these two brothers represent, as well as new teachings and conclusions about the conflict the tale presents and its consequences.
Yosef Kleiner speaks fluently Spanish, English, Hebrew, French and the Israeli Sign Language.
Biography Early years He was born in Buenos Aires and is the third son of Enrique Samuel Kleiner (1929–2005) and Clara Rosenthal (1931–2013). His parents were second generation of Argentineans, born to immigrant Jewish families from Eastern Europe, who arrived in Argentina at the beginning of the 20th century. His family was secular Jew with strong Jewish cultural values and identity and he was raised exposed to a considerable Jewish literature in Spanish that opened for him the first doors into Jewish tradition and its sense.
As a teenager he was very active in the youth groups of the Sociedad Hebraica Argentina and very soon became evident his inclination to acting and writing. He was an active member of the youth theater group of Hebraica under the direction of Sergio Rosemblat.
Jewish identity and religion Together with his love for acting, Yosef began developing a Jewish identity marked by a thorough personal quest between the cultural and the religious facets of Judaism. After his military service in Argentina, Yosef began high studies in Judaism at the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano in Buenos Aires, the center for Conservative Judaism in South America.
After four years he graduated from the Abarbanel Institute of the Seminario as Bachelor in Jewish Studies and Teacher.Graduates from the Abarbanel Institute – archived Following his graduation he was admitted into the "A.J. Heschel" Rabbinical School where he studied, among others, under the rabbis Marshall Meyer, Richard Freund, Shmuel Avidor Hacohen and Abraham Skorka. He finished his formal studies six years later, in 1993, at the Schechter Institute of Jerusalem, where he studied under Rabbi David Golinkin and Prof. Avigdor Shinan, among others. One year later he came back to Buenos Aires, where he received his formal Rabbinical Ordination,Rabbis ordained at the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano – archived together with Ariel Stofenmacher, presently the Executive President of the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano, and Margit Baumatz, the first woman to receive Rabbinical Ordination in South AmericaSee the Latin American Rabbinical Assembly list, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20140723134252/http://www.asamblearabinica.org/historiaLa mujer en el judaísmo (The woman in Judaism) in Spanish, in Criterio magazine Nr. 2308, September 2005 – archived
Teacher and Rabbi Only one year after having been admitted into the Abarbanel Institute and as a result of his outstanding academic achievements he began teaching in a Jewish elementary school. He was appointed as 7th grade teacher on Hebrew, Jewish History and Israel Geography at the Bet El Jewish Elementary School. It is at that time that he began also his practical rabbinic training with his mentor, Rabbi Abraham Skorka.
In 1986 he was appointed as middle school teacher on Prophets, Mishnah and Gemara at the Solomon Schechter School of Buenos Aires. He also took the synagogue direction of “Comunidad Hertzlía” of Buenos Aires. Between 1987 and 1992 he was also advisor on bibliography for students at the Abarbanel Institute. In those years Yosef Kleiner also began teaching at that Institute and even prepared its preparatory program (mechinah). Along with these activities and his studies, he delivered several lectures at the B'nai B'rith, the Sociedad Hebraica Argentina, the Franz Rosenzweig Adult learning Institute of the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano and at the Jewish Congregation of Bahía Blanca.
In 1988 he received the “Rabbi Dr. Theodore Friedman” award to the outstanding student of the Rabbinical School of the Seminario. In 1990 he took the synagogue direction of the Jewish Congregation of Bahía Blanca (Asociación Israelita de Bahía Blanca), position he held until 1992 when he left for Israel to finish his formal rabbinical education at the Schechter Institute.
After having received his rabbinical ordination, Yosef Kleiner became the Rabbi of the Sephardic Congregation in Chile (Comunidad Israelita Sefaradí de Chile) in 1994.Magazine Semanal No. 4, La Nación newspaper, Santiago de Chile, 9/15/1996, pp. 7-8 During his years in Chile he played an active role in the Institute for Sephardic Studies that was sponsored by his Congregation and represented, as well, the local Jewish community in the Latin American Conference on Poverty held in 1996 by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. He also wrote a monthly column in the magazine “El Vocero” called “Tomando kavé con el rabino” (Let’s have a kave [coffee] with the Rabbi).
In that same year he was appointed secretary of the Latin American branch of the Rabbinical Assembly, the rabbi's international association of the Conservative Judaism. As part of his teaching and representative tasks he took part as lecturer in the Workshop on Bioethics and Traditions organized by the Research Center on Bioethics and Public HealthClaudia Dides (editor): Bioética y Tradiciones. El desafío de la Tecnociencia. Ed. by Centro de Investigación en Bioética y Salud Pública CIBISAP – USACH. Santiago de Chile, 2001. See excerpt at Aborto en el Uruguay (in Spanish) – archivedNewspaper “El Mercurio”, 12/29/1996, Santiago de Chile, section E, pp. E1 & E6 of the University of Santiago de Chile. After that workshop he was appointed as advisor on Bioethics of that Research Center, task he left in 1997 when emigrated together with his family to Israel. In November 1997 he received the honor “Asseh lekha rav” bestowed by the Latin American Rabbinical Assembly, for his distinguished rabbinical performance in South America.
In 1998 Yosef and his family settled in Israel where he became the rabbi of the “Adat Shalom Emanuel” congregationSee the description of Congregation Adat Shalom Emanuel at KBY Congregations Together – archived version in Rehovot, succeeding rabbi Shmuel Avidor Hacohen,Weekly newspaper Arim No. 489, Rehovot, Israel, 4/161998, pp. 34-36. (in Hebrew) task he held until 2008. While carrying out his tasks as educator and spiritual leader in Rehovot, Yosef also taught Bible, Jewish history and Jewish Thought in the Nativ course for soldiers, within the framework of the Institute of Jewish Studies of the Jewish Agency. During 1999 he taught rabbinical students a course on practical rabbinics at the Schechter Institute and, between 2000 and 2002, he was a member of the Committee on Halakha (Jewish law) of the Israel Rabbinical Assembly of the Masorti/Conservative Movement. All along these years, and until his moving to France in 2012, he delivered several lectures and learning series in many Jewish congregations in Israel and abroad. He taught, among others, at the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Temple Hillel of North Woodmere, the Judiska Församlingen of StockholmTACHLES Nr 4, maj 2008, Judiska Församlingen i Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden (in Swedish) and the Comunidad Bet El of Madrid.El movimiento Masortí se mueve, con el rabino Iosef Kleiner, interview at Radio Sefarad of Madrid, Spain (12/12/2010)
In 2012, after four years of interruption as congregational rabbi, Yosef took the rabbinical position at the Union Libérale Israélite de France in Paris, when that congregation was seeking to try a more traditional self-definition.See the ULIF president’s letter at the congregation Facebook page (in French) at https://www.facebook.com/UlifCopernic/posts/684907238211858 During his two years stay in France he developed a prolific work as spiritual leader and Jewish educator.Akadem (in French) – archived]Les mariages mixtes, danger ou tremplin pour le judaïsme? in Tribune Juive (in French) - archivedFemmes et Torah (in French) - archived]Pour que l’avenir ne soit pas obscur , La Croix 3/10/2013 (in French) Still, the ideological divergences between the congregation lay leaders and Rabbi Kleiner proved to be deeper than what they had thought at the beginning. In spite of a thorough work done by both parts trying to overcome their dissimilarities, they arrived to the conclusion that the basic differences were too deep.See the ULIF president’s letter at the congregation Facebook page (in French) https://www.facebook.com/UlifCopernic/posts/684907238211858
In 2014 Yosef came back to Israel and began his duties as rabbi of the Moreshet Avraham Congregation in Jerusalem, where he is the Rabbi until today. Since his return he was interviewed several times in the Israel TV, representing the Masorti/Conservative Judaism.The sixth Hanukkah candle (in Hebrew)Lighting Hanukkah candles at the Antidefamation League (in Hebrew)Interview in Channel 20 (in Hebrew) Rabbi Kleiner is also teacher on Talmud at the “A.J.Heschel” Rabbinical School of the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano.Teaching staff of the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano
Polymath Psychologist While studying at the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano Yosef entered the Psychology School of the University of Buenos Aires, in 1989 he graduated as Licentiate in Psychology and began his professional practice. After having emigrated to IsraelIn July 1998 he got his Psychology Israeli license he continued his practice mainly in the field of psychological counseling and support. He also worked in the Mental Health Center in Rehovot, the Abarbanel Psychiatric Hospital in Bat Yam and the Psychiatric Department of the Herzog Hospital in Jerusalem.
Yosef is member of the Israeli Psychological Association, the American Psychological Association and a board member of the International Foundation for the Development of the Neurosciences.Authorities of the FIDN – archived
Political activity During his first years in Israel Yosef Kleiner developed another of his areas of interest in social action: politics. Looking for a political movement that better represented his ideals, he met the then ideological movement Meimad, founded by Rabbi Yehuda Amital. When the movement turned into a political party for the 1999 electionsNote on the Meimad party at The Israel Democracy Institute website - archived Yosef Kleiner was elected member of its Central Assembly. At the end of 2002, following a general controversy within the party, Yosef resigned his post at the Assembly and left MEIMAD together with other 20 members, among them were Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, one of the old time leaders, and all the members of the Rehovot branch.Yair Sheleg in Haaretz 12/01/2002 (in Hebrew) – archived