Berlin-born convert Rabbi Gesa Shira Ederberg made history as the first European and Jew by choice elected president of the Rabbinical Assembly in March 2026.

Rabbi Gesa Shira Ederberg, a Berlin-born convert to Judaism, has made history as the first European and first Jew by choice elected president of the Rabbinical Assembly, the global leadership body of the Conservative/Masorti Jewish movement. Installed in March 2026 in both Teaneck, New Jersey, and Berlin, she becomes the third woman and first non-American or non-Israeli to lead the organization, which represents over 1,600 rabbis. Ederberg, ordained in 2014, has been a pioneer in rebuilding Jewish life in Germany, founding key institutions and becoming the first woman rabbi in Berlin since the Holocaust. Her election reflects the movement’s growing embrace of diversity, inclusion, and global leadership.