BOSTON, Mass.—ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) has announced the appointment of Rabbi Jonah Steinberg as Director of ADL’s New England Region. Steinberg will lead the fight against antisemitism and all forms of hate in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.  

Jonah succeeds Robert Trestan as the Regional Director who has been serving ADL as its Western Division Vice President. During his nine-year tenure, Trestan was responsible for overseeing ADL’s community relations, advocacy initiatives and program delivery across the region, prioritizing developing community partnerships and initiatives that advocate for justice, equity and fair treatment for everyone. Peggy Shukur has served as Interim Regional Director since October 2022 and will remain as Deputy Regional Director. 

Rabbi Steinberg comes to ADL after serving 12 years as the Director of Hillel at Harvard University. In that role, Steinberg transformed the organization into a leading Jewish voice, not just at Harvard, but throughout the community. He did so while facing unprecedented hostility toward Israel and the organized Jewish community on campus. Steinberg has been a bridge-builder and thought-leader, having stood up not only for the Jewish community, but for all members of marginalized communities.  

Born in Canada and raised in Toronto and in Vienna, Austria, Rabbi Steinberg received his BA at Brown University and his MA, MPhil and PhD degrees at Columbia University. He has served as Visiting Instructor of Talmud and Rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, taught at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies of the American Jewish University, and headed the program in Rabbinic Literature and Civilization at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College before becoming Associate Dean of the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College. 

“Having grown up in Vienna, Austria, amid a cultural milieu of historic antisemitism, and having more recently experienced the demonization of Israel on campus, ADL’s vital mission of combatting antisemitism and securing just and fair treatment for all touches my roots and engages my commitment to fostering understanding, amity, and solidarity against hate and prejudice,” said Rabbi Jonah Steinberg. “I am inspired by a great forerunner in this role, Lenny Zakim, of blessed memory, who, in a variation of Hillel’s famous words, said, ‘If we don’t speak up for ourselves, probably no one else will, but if we speak up only for ourselves then we are not complete.’ I am honored to lead the storied New England office and look forward to the work ahead.”  

“I am thrilled to welcome Rabbi Steinberg to our team and to entrust this region’s important work to his leadership,” said Doron Ezickson, Vice President of ADL’s East Division. “Jonah is not only a thoughtful and capable leader, but of equal importance, he is dedicated to ADL’s mission ‘to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.’”

“We welcome Jonah’s vision, leadership, experience and commitment to ADL New England at this crucial time as we act to confront the ever-present and ever-changing threat of antisemitism and hate through action, advocacy and allyship,” added Peggy Shukur, ADL New England Interim Regional Director.  

Steinberg will work closely with the ADL New England Regional Board, chaired by Regional Board Chair Joe Berman. 

PHOTO: Rabbi Jonah Steinberg