Pynchas Brener (1931) is the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

, starting in 1967.

Early life

He was born in

Tyszowce Tyszowce (; yi, טישעוויץ, Tishevitz; uk, Тишо́вце, Tyshóvtse) is a town (since January 1, 2000) in Tomaszów Lubelski County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland, with 359 inhabitants (2004). Tyszowce was incorporated as a town from 1419 ...

, Poland and at the age of four emigrated with his family to Peru. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Rabbinic Ordination from

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universi ...

and his Master's degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

, and is a PhD ''

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...

'' of

Bar Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic ...

Rabbinic career

In the 1960s, Brener served as a rabbi in Queens, New York. In 1967 he was appointed as Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Caracas. In August 2019, the disputed president of

Juan Guaidó Juan Gerardo Guaidó Márquez (born 28 July 1983) is a Venezuelan politician, a former member of the social-democratic Popular Will party, and federal deputy to the National Assembly representing the state of Vargas. On 23 January 2019, Guaid� ...

, appointed Brener as the official envoy to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, even though the two countries do not have diplomatic relations. Brener is a president of the Committee of Liaisons between Churches and Synagogues in Venezuela and member of the Board of Directors of

in Israel. He is the author of several books about

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 ...

, including ''El Diálogo Eterno'', ''Las Escrituras: Hombres e Ideas'', and ''Fe y Razón'', all published by the

World Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization ( he, הַהִסְתַּדְּרוּת הַצִּיּוֹנִית הָעוֹלָמִית; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the ...

's Department for Education and Culture in the Diaspora. He has also written ''Tradición y Actualidad'' and ''Luto y Consuelo'', published by Editorial Boker, and ''La fe y la Intuición'', published by Monte Ávila Editores in Caracas. He also co-edited with Marianne Beker and Thea Segal, the book ''Las sinagogas se abren al mundo'' He is also a regular columnist in the Venezuelan newspapers such as '' El Nacional'', '' El Universal''El Universal
. Editorial Boker and the Venezuelan Jewish community weekly newspaper ''

Nuevo Mundo Israelita ''Nuevo Mundo Israelita'' (NMI) is a Jewish newspaper published weekly in Caracas, Venezuela. Founded in 1943 by Moisés Sananes with the name "El Mundo Israelita". In 1973, the main Venezuelan Jewish institutions decided to merge it with the mont ...

''. He is a classmate and close friend of Rabbi

Arthur Schneier Arthur Schneier (born March 20, 1930) is an Austrian-American rabbi and human rights activist. Rabbi Schneier has served for over 50 years as the Senior Rabbi of New York City’s Park East Synagogue. While being honored with the Presidential Citi ...

Park East Synagogue Park East Synagogue is located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, in New York City. Building The building was built in 1889–1890. The architects were Schneider and Herter, who designed numerous tenements on New York's Lower East Side as w ...

. He has an internet project "Cafe con Fe" and a website. His digital platform has been running since 2012 and has a presence on Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brener, Pynchas 1931 births 20th-century Polish Jews Ashkenazi rabbis Jewish Polish writers Living people People from Caracas Polish Ashkenazi Jews Polish emigrants to Venezuela Venezuelan Ashkenazi Jews Venezuelan rabbis Venezuelan people of Polish-Jewish descent