PETER J. WEIDHORN

Speeches and Articles

Peter J. Weidhorn is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Union for Reform Judaism, the top lay leadership position in the Reform Movement. The Union is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism, representing more than 900 synagogues and 1.5 million Reform Jews in North America.

Weidhorn, who served as vice chair for four years before being elected chairman in December 2007, has been actively involved in the Union for more than 15 years. He served in a variety of capacities, including treasurer and chair of the budget and management committees, but his greatest passion has been the strengthening and expansion of the  Union’s camping system. 

In 2000 Weidhorn brought the Union’s camps into a unified system (the NAC), thus providing greater consistency in the camp experience from camp to camp and also bringing greater cost-effectiveness to the system as a whole. And it was Peter and Joan Weidhorn who began the scholarship program for camp and Israel programs with a $1 million endowment. Weidhorn also oversaw the selling of the Union’s headquarters at 838 Fifth Avenue in New York, the proceeds of which enabled the Union to establish an endowment. A former president of Temple Shaari Emeth in Manalapan, NJ, he is also member of the World Union for Progressive Judaism’s executive committee and a member of the board of the Foundation for Jewish Camping.  

Weidhorn served as the chairman, president, and CEO of WNY Group, Inc., an equity real estate investment trust which owned and operated 8,000 multi-family apartment units throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland prior to its sale in September 2000. He has more than 35 years’ experience in the management, acquisition, disposition and financing of commercial real estate. 

In addition to his work with the Reform Movement, he has been involved in several industry and charitable organizations and is currently the chairman of The Community Development Trust, Inc. a REIT specializing in preserving Affordable Housing. He and his wife Joan live in Manalapan, NJ and have two married children and four grandchildren.