Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis (z"l), one of the best-known pulpit rabbis in America, served at Valley Beth Shalom from 1970 until his death in December 2014.

Rabbi Schulweis combined a Talmudic education at Yeshiva College with graduate studies in modern philosophical and theological thought at New York University, the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Pacific School of Religion, from which he received his Th.D. in Theology. He has lectured in philosophy and theology at CCNY, the University of Judaism and Hebrew Union College.

Rabbi Schulweis was instrumental in the development of synagogue programs such as the Synagogue Havurah Program (since adopted nationally), Para-professional Counseling Center, Para-Rabbinics, Jews-by-Choice, Outreach to the Developmentally Disabled (Shaare Tikvah and Chaverim), the VBS Day School, as well as addressing the issues of Jewish education and interfaith dialogue.

He was the Founding Chairman of the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, an organization that identifies and offers grants to those non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews threatened by the agents of Nazi savagery. He was also the Founder of Jewish World Watch, a synagogue-based organization dedicated to raising both awareness and funds to protest the genocide in Darfur, and bringing vital assistance to the victims of its unrest. Over 60 synagogues and other religious institutions are now supporting this effort across the country.

Rabbi Schulweis authored many books, including: Approaches to the Philosophy of Religion (Prentice-Hall), For Those Who Can’t Believe (Harper Collins), Finding Each Other in Judaism, and In God’s Mirror. His Evil and the Morality of God (Hebrew Union College Press) is regarded as a classic, and was republished by KTAV in 2010. He has also published two books of original religious poetry and meditations— From Birth to Immortality and Passages in Poetry. His recent book, Conscience: The Duty to Obey and the Duty to Disobey (Jewish Lights), was named Winner of the 2008 National Jewish Book Award: Contemporary Jewish Life and Practice.   Also in 2008, he shepherded the compilation of biographical essays by over 50 Jews by choice, published by Valley Beth Shalom and entitled Under the Shadow of Thy Wings, which has been republished under the title Judaism: Embracing the Seeker (KTAV, 2010).