Yosef Abramowitz

Arava Power is Israel's leading solar developer and a pioneer in mid-size and large-size solar fields. Arava Power built the first grid-connected solar field in Israel and closed on $300 million for the next eight solar fields in Israel, with a further $1.2 billion worth of projects in the pipeline. Energiya Global develops affordable solar projects worldwide, with the goal of providing clean electricity for 50 million people by 2020.

Abramowitz is a featured speaker with the Jewish Federations of North America, and recently was a scholar in residence for the Combined Jewish Philanthropies in Boston and UJA Federation of Toronto. He addresses the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington D.C. on March 2, 2015.

In cooperation with Dutch developer Gigawatt Global and its co-founder Chaim Motzen, in 2014 Energiya Global completed the first utility-scale solar field in eastern Sub-Saharan Africa – on the green hills east of Rwanda's capital, Kigali. The 8.5 MW field is located at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, both a home and an educational institution for hundreds of children, most of them orphans whose parents were killed during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. The $24 million power plant added 6% to Rwanda's power generation capacity. "It's phenomenal for Rwanda because our energy is much cheaper than diesel. And then the youth village enjoys the benefit of technical training. This way, graduates of the village will be able to spread solar power all over Rwanda and then East Africa," says Abramovitz. The Rwanda solar field is a proof-of-concept to successfully develop and finance commercial-scale solar fields throughout Africa and in the developing world. "It is a game-changer for humanity and the environment."

An entrepreneur, environmentalist, educator and human rights activist, Yosef was featured on CNN's "The Next List" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta in 2013 for his life's work, including efforts in bringing solar power on a commercial basis to developing nations. Yosef was named to The Jerusalem Post list of 50 most influential Jews worldwide in 2011, 2012, and 2013, joining the ranks of Mark Zuckerberg (#1), Shimon Peres (#22), Jon Stewart (#27), and Bar Refaeli (#50) among others—including Sarah Silverman, who happens to be his sister-in-law. He was also named by Calcalist, a leading economic daily, as one of Israel's top environmentalists in 2010 and, in 1991, as the most influential Jewish student leader of the previous decade, according to Moment Magazine. Abramowitz was named by Haaretz as one of 2011's top ten most influential Anglo immigrants. He has been co-nominated 3 times for the Nobel Peace Prize for his human rights work with Union of Councils for Soviet Jews in the former Soviet Union. Yosef was also awarded "Person of the Year" by the 2012 Israel Energy and Business Convention.

The U.S. affiliate of Energiya Global – Energiya USA – won a $30 million contract to build a 17.68 MW solar field in southeast Georgia in 2014. It will be the first utility-scale solar field in that part of the state. The 79-acre field will be constructed in Glynn County, Georgia and is expected to be interconnected by the last day of 2015. The power purchase agreement with the Georgia Power Company promises 20 years of solar power.

Abramowitz hopes that "within a decade or so, some 1 billion people in the developing world will benefit from solar generated electricity." Energiya Global is located in Jerusalem and is actively involved in the Israeli capital city's efforts to go green. In 2013 Energiya Global co-sponsored the Cool Globes exhibit outside of the Old City's gates. Cool Globes is part of the city's Green Pilgrim initiative, with the purpose of inspiring a call to environmental action.

The family are members of the Reform Kol HaNeshama congregation in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Baqa, under the leadership of Rabbi Levi Kelman. In February, 2013, Rabbi Susan Silverman and daughter Hallel, then 17, were arrested with eight others as part of the monthly Women of the Wall prayer service for wearing prayer shawls. (They were given civil disobedience training from Abramowitz the night before, which was utilized). The news of the arrests went global and viral, as Jerusalem Post reporter Tovah Lazaroff tweeted that Sarah Silverman's sister and niece were under arrest. Their arrest catalyzed a global movement for change, with Women of the Wall making historic strides for religious freedom at Judaism's holiest site. The courts sided with religious freedom.

On 10 July 2013, a group spearheaded by the Israel Electric Vehicle Association and Abramowitz won the bids in liquidation court for both the operating company and the intellectual assets of Better Place. Efi Shahak, chairman of the Association, led the transformation of the operating company from a monthly burn of $8 million to less than a $1 million, saving the company and making it viable. "My goal isn't to run Better Place," Abramowitz said at the time. "My goal is to save the dream and have others run it. " As part of the court decision, 350 Better Place cars were awarded to the new group to sell, but the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety has blocked the sale and even appealed to Israel's High Court of Justice to block the sale. This, along with the database for billing drivers $250,000 a month proving to be unusable, undermined investor confidence. On August 25, the deal to acquire the operating company was cancelled and outstanding matters are going through the courts. On 25 August 2013, The Central District Court agreed to sell the assets of the defunct Better Place electric car company to the Tsahi Merkur's Success Group for NIS 11 million.

Abramowitz is the President, CEO and co-founder, along with David Rosenblatt, Ed Hofland, and Howie Rodenstein of Energiya Global Capital, founded in 2011. Created to address the urgent need to expand access to renewable energy throughout the world, currently Energiya Global is working on projects in Rwanda, South Africa and the Southeastern United States.

Abramowitz's first photographic exhibit, "The Ketura Years: Part One" was on display July 2011, at Presentense on Emek Refaim Street in Jerusalem.

In August 2008, Siemens Project Ventures invested $15 Million in the Arava Power Company. In a press release published that month, Peter Löscher, President and CEO of Siemens AG said: "This investment is another consequential step in further strengthening our green and sustainable technologies". Siemens now holds a 40% stake in the company. On November 21, 2010, the Minister of National Infrastructure, Uzi Landau, signed a Power Purchase Agreement with Ketura Sun Company (owned by Arava Power Company) worth an estimated 250 Million NIS. The agreement is valid for twenty years and guarantees that the energy produced at Ketura Sun will be transferred to the Israel Electric Corporation's power lines. It is the first PPA in Israel with a solar energy company. In December 2010 Bank Hapoalim signed an agreement with Arava Power to extend a loan of 80 Million NIS to APC in order to fund the Ketura Sun project (valued at ~100 Million NIS). In 2011 Arava Power established the first commercial solar field in Israel in Kibbutz Ketura. On May 22, 2012 Arava Power announced that it had reached financial close on an additional 58.5 MW for 8 projects to be built in the Arava and the Negev valued at 780 Million NIS or approximately $204 Million. APC President and Co-Founder Yosef Abramowitz stated, "Our work is not yet done. Israel needs to adopt the European Union goal of 20 % Renewables by 2020 and this major milestone by Arava Power is proof positive that it can be reached. Furthermore, an injustice must be corrected by creating a special quota of solar fields for Bedouin land owners, who are locked out of the current solar program."

Abramowitz said in a 2010 interview with The Jerusalem Post: "We are implementing Prime Minister Netanyahu's vision to cease use of fossil fuels within a decade and [help Israel] develop alternative energies for itself and the world". Abramowitz calls solar energy the "energy of peace"; in a 2008 interview he said "To realize that the same sun shines equally on all of us, is owned by none of us, and can supply our energy needs in abundance, inherently promotes peace. The sun doesn't recognize borders." Abramowitz has met with energy ministers and officials from over four dozen countries to assist them plan for a solar energy future for their countries.

Named by CNN as one of the top six Green Pioneers worldwide, Yosef Abramowitz serves as President of the Arava Power Company (2006–2013) and is now focused on serving as CEO and President of Energiya Global (2011–) founding both companies with partners David Rosenblatt of New Jersey and Ed Hofland of Kibbutz Ketura.

In 2006, he moved from Newton, Massachusetts to Kibbutz Ketura. In 2006, he was named to the 3rd spot on the Atid Ehad Knesset list, 2008 Abramowitz was elected to the 19th spot on the Israel Green Movement Knesset list, and, along with his wife, was part of Naomi Tsur's Ometez Lev party for the Jerusalem City Council.

Abramowitz co-founded the solar industry in Israel and the Arava Power Company in 2006 with David Rosenblatt of New Jersey and Ed Hofland of Kibbutz Ketura. He has served as the company's President. Arava Power Company's mission is to supply 10% of Israel's electricity needs through solar energy. Specifically, APC works with kibbutzim, moshavim, and Bedouins in the south of the country.

Abramowitz and his wife, Rabbi Susan Silverman, wrote the best-seller Jewish Family and Life: Traditions, Holidays, and Values for Today's Parents and Children, which was published by Golden Books from St. Martin's Press on September 15, 1998. It was subsequently also released in paperback. Approximately 50,000 copies were sold. He is the brother-in-law of comedian Sarah and actress Laura Silverman, and the family appears in Sarah's hit book, The Bedwetter.

Abramowitz founded the anti-apartheid and divestiture movement at Boston University. However, Abramowitz refused to participate in any protest event for which he was not the keynote speaker, so consequently he was not among those arrested at the largest anti-apartheid demonstration held on BU's campus, the BU-eleven. Years later, he took part for the first time in direct action, and was banned from pre-democratic South Africa, and led in 1997 the successful campaign to reinstate $7 billion to the United States federal budget as corrections to the Welfare Reform Act. Abramowitz served as the president of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews from 1997–2007, and has been co-nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the keynote speaker at Russia's national human rights convention in 2004. He helped to establish the Ethiopian Atid Ehad political party in Israel. Abramowitz is an active advocate of solar power in Israel, for both Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs. While investigating the burning of Jewish homes in Ethiopia, Abramowitz was held up at gunpoint. He has helped organized various human rights demonstrations in 23 countries.

Two of his articles, "Mystery of the Missing Millions" (1997) and "Israel and the Sudanese Prisoners" (2006), were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Yosef Abramowitz pioneered the Jewish webzine, in 1996, and websites that he established have recorded over half a billion page views, and have reached more Jews than ever before with an affirming, inclusive and relevant message about Jewish life.

Abramowitz has led two hunger strikes. The first was a fourteen-day strike that protested Boston University's investments in South Africa during the apartheid era. Abramowitz was banned from pre-democratic South Africa for his anti-apartheid leadership. The second was during Abramowitz's time serving as the chairperson of the World Union of Jewish Students. This two-week strike was held on behalf of the Soviet Prisoner of Zion Alexei Magarik, "who was subsequently released from prison and flown to Israel. [Abramowitz] organized 23 demonstrations and events worldwide in February 1987 for the most successful ever International Jewish Student Solidarity day for Soviet Jewry." Alexei, subsequent to his release from solitary confinement and his release to Israel, was the last Prisoner of Zion in the USSR.

Abramowitz served on the Executive Board of the World Jewish Congress from 1987–1990. Abramowitz says his inspiration comes from: "Jewish peoplehood, which has been my big passion for the last decade."

He has been arrested two times. The first arrest, outside of the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C. in October 1985, was on behalf of Boris Lifshitz. "The U.S. Supreme Court overturned [Abramowitz's] conviction, setting precedent on First Amendment rights outside embassies." The second arrest was on behalf of Ethiopian Jewry. Israel Border Police beat Abramowitz outside of the Jerusalem Convention Center at the World Zionist Congress in 1987. The then-newly elected Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Mendel Kaplan, freed him from the police van before police could transport him to jail.

Abramowitz served on the student committee of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday Commission, which founded the national holiday in the United States for the civil rights leader, and met secretly with Coretta Scott King in 1985 to help the King family's campaign to have the King papers donated to the King Center, from Boston University.

He has served as a columnist for The Daily Free Press (1983–86), Israel Scene Magazine (1988–90), Moment Magazine (1993–95), Jewish newspapers (1998–2004), The Chronicle of Philanthropy (2004–2006), Ha'aretz English edition (2010), and The Jerusalem Post (2013–).

Abramowitz was born in 1964. He lived in Israel as a child from 1969–1972, before returning to Boston. While living in Massachusetts, he attended the Solomon Schechter School of Greater Boston, and graduated in 1980 from Hebrew College Prozdor and in 1982 from Brookline High School. He is a Young Judaean; having worked at Camp Sprout Lake, CYJ California, and was a camper, counselor and unit head at Tel Yehuda, and he participated in the 1982–1983 Young Judaea Year Course in Israel program on a Hadassah scholarship. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Jewish Public Policy from Boston University in 1986, where he studied under Elie Wiesel, Howard Zinn and Hillel Levine, and a Master of Arts in Magazine Journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1991, which he attended on a Wexner Graduate Fellowship. He is married to Rabbi Susan Silverman and they have five children, two of whom were adopted from Ethiopia. Silverman, a well known activist for religious pluralism and international adoption, was recently named to The Forward 50 Most Influentials list, as well as Jewrotica's Top 10 Sexy Rabbis of 2013.