Mose Durst (born 1939) is an author, educator, and the former president of the Unification Church of the United States. He was born in

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

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, a predominantly Orthodox

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community, to immigrants from

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. He received a Master's degree and Ph.D while studying

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

. He taught at

Laney College Laney College is a public community college in Oakland, California. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County. Laney College is named after Joseph Clarence Laney. Th ...

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. In 1972 he converted from

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

and joined the Unification Church in Oakland, then became a lecturer and a church leader in California. In 1974, he married Korean missionary Yon Soo Lim, and they led the Northern California church together. In 1980, Durst was appointed by Unification Church founder

Sun Myung Moon Sun Myung Moon (; born Yong Myung Moon; 6 January 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the Unif ...

as the president of the American church. As church president Durst expanded some of the successful practices of the Northern California church to the national level.excerpts
''The Unification Church, Studies in Contemporary Religion'' Massimo Introvigne, Signature Books, . In 1984, Durst expressed regret over misunderstandings between Unification Church members and some members of the Jewish community. He placed blame for this both on the members' "youthful zeal and ignorance" and on the community's "insecurity." That same year he wrote in his

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English p ...

: "Our relations with the Jewish community have been the most painful to me personally. I say this with a heavy heart, since I was raised in the Jewish faith and am proud of my heritage." Durst currently teaches literature and history to middle school students at the Principled Academy, a Unification Church sponsored school in

San Leandro, California San Leandro ( Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the ...

, and is the chairman of the school's board. He has published seven books: ''To Bigotry, No Sanction: Reverend Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church'', ''Principled Education'', ''Shakespeare’s Plays'', and ''Oakland, California: Towards A Sustainable City'', and two children’s books.The Principled Academy - Staff page
, school web site.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durst, Mose American people of Russian-Jewish descent American Unificationists People from Williamsburg, Brooklyn Writers from Oakland, California 1939 births Living people Converts from Judaism Unification Church and Judaism University of Oregon alumni Writers from New York City