Josh Wander

Rabbi Josh Wander is the international spokesman for the Israeli search and rescue agency ZAKA and was the Republican nominee for Mayor of Pittsburgh in the 2013 general election. He was also featured in a segment on the reality television ''Doomsday Preppers''. He is also a public relations consultant representing projects in, and around the Old City of Jerusalem.He recreated the Chatzotzrot bringing them back into existence after a 2000 year hiatus.

Early life and education

Born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania,
Wander graduated from a rabbinical college in Israel with a Bachelor of Talmudic Law and subsequently earned a Masters in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. Wander studied at Ner Yisrael in Baltimore and the Mirrer Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Wander served as an IDF commander in Lebanon and officer in the auxiliary US Air Force. Wander also served in IDF reserves in the National Emergency Management Authority.

Career

Wander served as an advisor in the Knesset and also worked for the Jerusalem Post.

Chatzotzrot

Wander worked on bringing back the silver trumpets that Israel was commanded to blow in times or trouble and when going out to war. After extensive planning, preparation and supervision, the trumpets were made and on Tisha B’Av in 2024, the trumpets were blown for the first time in 2000 years.Since then, Wander has blown them at a number of auspicious events including when Israel went out to war against Hamas. A book was written about Wander and his recreation of the Trumpets.

ZAKA

As the international spokesman for ZAKA, Wander was part of the active response for Hurricane Harvey, the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the Mariana dam disaster, the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 disaster, the Surfside condominium collapse, humanitarian assistance during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, and most notably the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, which Wander described as "a horror movie."

Israel Advocacy

Wander is an Aliyah activist. 2019 Wander founded the organization Bring Them Home, dedicated to educating and informing Jews living in the Diaspora of the importance of returning home to Israel.

Political campaigns

Wander served as constable of White Oak, Pennsylvania and as an Allegheny County Republican committee member. He has run, unsuccessfully, twice for Mayor of Pittsburgh, and once for both Pittsburgh City Council and for Allegheny County Council.

In the 2013 election for Mayor of Pittsburgh, given that there hadn’t been a Republican mayor since 1933, Wander stated his "only chance of actually winning in the race is if the Democratic nominee drops dead." Less than two months before that election it was reported Wander, while still the Republican candidate for mayor, had left Pittsburgh entirely. According to the ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'', Wander sold his home in Pittsburgh and moved with his family to Israel. Wander insisted he would continue his campaign for mayor of Pittsburgh from Israel, though some experts questioned the legality of such an arrangement.Wander received 11.5% of the vote.

Personal life

Wander is married with six children. Wander lives on the Mount of Olives and volunteers as a paramedic. He holds dual citizenship in the United States and Israel. He is a certified NRA arms instructor and gun rights advocate.

Doomsday Preppers

In an episode of the National Geographic Channel program ''Doomsday Preppers'', Wander was quoted as saying that he was concerned "about a series of catastrophic terrorist attacks which will fundamentally change our lives as we know them."
Wander maintained a blog titled "Jewish Preppers" where he wrote about disaster preparedness for Jews.

References

External links

Josh Wander for MayorSmart Voters PageOfficial site of the Bring Them Home Organization

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wander, Josh
Jewish American people in Pennsylvania politics
Living people
Pennsylvania Republicans
Politicians from Pittsburgh
Israeli people of American-Jewish descent
University of Pittsburgh alumni
21st-century American Jews
1970 births