RRC - Key Persons

Joel Hecker, Ph.D., serves as Professor of Jewish Mysticism, and is among today's most prominent scholars of kabbalah. He is the author of Volume 11 and Volume 12 of The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, the first complete annotated translation of the Zohar, the central and canonical text of Jewish mysticism. (Volume 11 won the 2017 Canadian Jewish Literary Award in the category of Scholarship.) Though written largely in late 13th century Castile, the Zohar has exerted outsized influence on Jewish mysticism, theology, and ritual practice because its authorship was ascribed to Rabbi Shim'on bar Yo hai, a prominent 2nd century rabbi who figures prominently in the Mishnah. More an anthology of mystical midrash than a unified work of theology, the Zohar has charmed and fascinated readers since its first appearance. The original texts in Aramaic and Hebrew-nearly 2,000 pages of commentary on Torah, Midrash, and Talmud-are designed to draw readers into participation in a mystical drama, and have been virtually impenetrable to untrained readers. He holds an H.B.A. in English literature from the University of Toronto, rabbinic ordination and M.S. in Jewish philosophy from Yeshiva University, and a doctorate in Judaic Studies, specializing in Jewish mysticism, from New York University. He has been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania; fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem; Visiting Instructor at the University of Pennsylvania, the Jewish Theological Seminary and Yeshiva University; and lectured at a range of universities, adult-education institutions, as well as synagogues of all four major denominations. Hecker is also the author of Mystical Bodies, Mystical Meals: Eating and Embodiment in Medieval Kabbalah (Wayne State University Press, 2004), and has published widely on a range of themes in Jewish mysticism. His scholarly interests include ritual, embodiment, mystical techniques, the deployment of emotion, visual culture in the kabbalah, as well as the history of Jewish magic.

Marc Overbeck

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Plenum Steering Committee Representative / Salem, Ore.

Mark Pinsky

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Member of the Officers Team
Treasurer / Philadelphia

Mary Buhring

mb..@rrc.edu

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Director of Academic Administration

Micah Fenner

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Representative, Jewish Reconstructionist Camping Corporation / Amsterdam

Micah Schriftman

ms..@reconstructingjudaism.org

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IT Specialist

Nathalie Smuha

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Policy Analyst

Rabbi Alan LaPayover

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Director of the Goldyne Savad Library Center

Rabbi Alex Weissman Tweet

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Director
Rabbi
Director of Community Life and Mekhinah

In this case, it is the character trait bitachon, which means "faith" or "trust." Faculty members raised hard questions such as: How can a student of color place trust in God or people in a racist society? When is the right time to place trust and when to push back? Then, the hard work begins. Participants are asked to develop a spiritual practice related to bitachon. That practice could relate to God, to another person or to themselves. (It could be as simple as someone telling themselves or another that "I believe in you.) Then the group reconvenes two weeks later, when participants are invited to reflect on their practice and progress and set a new intention. It can be painstaking, emotional work, and discussions have often been raw and personal. Having an implicit bias means you might single out some students and not others for care or criticism. Dismantling racism is never going to be easy, noted Weissman. And "Dismantling Racism" and Mussar provide a detailed framework for going about it. "There can be a distorted balance of care shaped by racism," he said. "Having an implicit bias means you might single out some students and not others for care or criticism. This is about trying to compensate for the racism that all of us have learned in one way or another." "The hope is that there'll be a difference in the classroom, and in the hallways, and in all interactions between students and faculty," continued Weissman. "This is one way we can make sure that we're living up to our values and commitments." How do we know if it works? Measuring changes in people's hearts and how they behave toward others is never going to be as simple as reporting numbers. Yet Weissman remains confident that the process will have a long-term impact upon the faculty and, ultimately, th e students who study with them.

Rabbi Amber Powers

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Rabbi
Acting President & CEO ( through August 2024 ), Executive Vice President
Acting President & CEO ( through August 2024 ), Executive Vice President / Rabbi Mira Wasserman

Rabbi Arthur Green - President

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President
Rabbi

Rabbi Avi Winokur

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Rabbi

Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz - President

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President
Rabbi

Rabbi David A. Teutsch - President

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President
Rabbi
the Louis and Myra Wiener Professor Emeritus of Contemporary Jewish Civilization and Senior Consultant to Thriving Communities

Rabbi David Kominsky

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Rabbi

Rabbi Deborah Waxman - CEO, President

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CEO
President
Rabbi

Rabbi Elyse Wechterman

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Rabbi
Executive Director, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association / Abington, Pa.

Rabbi Fredi Cooper

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Rabbi

Rabbi Ira Silverman - President

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President

Rabbi Isaac Saposnik

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Rabbi
Executive Director, Havaya Summer Programs / Philadelphia

Rabbi Isabel de Koninck

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Rabbi

Rabbi Jacob Staub

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Rabbi
Director of Evolve

Rabbi Lina Zerbarini

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Rabbi

Rabbi Linda Holtzman

lh..@rrc.edu

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Rabbi
Director of Student Life

Rabbi Melissa Heller

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Director of Admissions
Rabbi
Director of Admissions and Recruitment

Rabbi Melissa Heller is the Director of Admissions and Recruitment at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. In this role, she has the great privilege of supporting prospective rabbinical students as they discern and enact their visions of service and leadership for the Jewish people and wider world. Prior to leading the admissions team, she was teaching and developing programs for emerging religious leaders within the Department of Multifaith Studies at RRC. She has worked as a teacher, chaplain and organizational manager in a variety of settings. She received her Masters of Arts in Hebrew Letters and rabbinic ordination from RRC in 2008. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in History, with a concentration in Jewish Studies, from Binghamton University.

Rabbi Mira Beth Wasserman

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Rabbi
Acting President & CEO ( through August 2024 ), Executive Vice President / Rabbi Mira Wasserman
Director of Center for Jewish Ethics, Associate Professor of Rabbinic Literature
Faculty Representative / Penn Valley, Pa.
Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Director of the Center for Jewish Ethics

Mira Beth Wasserman's work as a rabbi and scholar bridges Talmud study, community building and the pursuit of social justice. In the classroom, she explores the history and cultures of diverse ancient Jewish communities while fusing immersion in classical text with new critical methods and theory. In 2016, Wasserman was selected by her students to receive the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College's Yaakov Gladstone Award for Fine Teaching. Wasserman is director of the Center for Jewish Ethics and Associate Professor of Rabbinic Literature. Through the Ethics Center, she offers support and mentorship to students interested in pursuing study and service in Jewish ethics. Additionally, Wasserman serves as a resource for all students who face ethical questions in their internships. Wasserman's research focuses on the art of the Babylonian Talmud and on how the Talmud can be deployed to support contemporary Jewish ethics. Her book, Jews, Gentiles, and other Animals: The Talmud after the Humanities (Penn Press, 2017), is an exploration of what it means to be human according to the Talmud; it was awarded the Baron Prize for the best first book in Jewish studies published in 2017. In connection with the Ethics Center, Wasserman engages in public scholarship on race, gender and Jewish ethics. A go-to speaker on Jewish ethics and the #MeToo movement, she is a co-editor of the forthcoming Respect and Responsibility: A Jewish Ethics Study Guide that employs Jewish values and text study in the prevention of abuse. The Ethics Center's work on anti-racism and Jewish ethics can be found here. Wasserman's background in the congregational rabbinate helps her bring a practical orientation to her teaching and scholarship. She is Rabbi Emerita of Congregation Beth Shalom in Bloomington, Ind., where she served for over a decade. Her doctorate in Jewish Studies is from the University of California at Berkeley, her rabbinic ordination is from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and she is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Hebrew Literature from the Jewish Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from Barnard College. Her focus on Jewish early childhood education as a congregational rabbi led to the publications of a children's book, Too Much of a Good Thing. Rabbi Mira Wasserman has appeared as a guest on podcasts produced by Reconstructing Judaism, which is the central organization of the Reconstructionist movement. In 2020, she appeared on Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations to address "Covid-19 and Jewish Ethics." And, in 2018, she appeared on both Hashivenu: Jewish Teachings on Resilience, to discuss "Midrash" and #TrendingJewish to talk about the #metoo movement and "Why Jewish Ethics Matters." She was interviewed about Reconstructionist Judaism for an English-language radio program in Spain.

Rabbi Mordechai Liebling

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Rabbi

Rabbi Nancy Fuchs Kreimer

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Rabbi

Rabbi Rayna Grossman

rg..@rrc.edu

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Rabbi
Director of Field Education
Director of Field Placement, Was Excited to Take Part in the Process Because They'D Never Undertaken a Formal Mussar Practice or Antiracism Program.

Grossman added that in many ways, the process was more revealing and difficult than they had expected. "I had not anticipated how, in this process, I would need to confront not only my learned and internalized racism but also areas of personal struggle, such as personal struggles with anxiety and self-image." Rabbi Rayna Grossman, RRC's director of field placement, was excited to take part in the process because they'd never undertaken a formal Mussar practice or antiracism program.

Rabbi Renee Bauer

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Rabbi
President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association / Madison, Wisc.

Rabbi Sandra Lawson Tweet

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Rabbi
Director of Racial Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Director of Racial Justice, Equity and Inclusion

The 2018 Reconstructionist Rabbinical College graduate is one of the first African American, queer, female rabbis. The thought-leader has consciously sought to alter the perception of what a rabbi - and the rabbinate - looks like. Lawson is known for tackling difficult questions surrounding Jews and race in podcasts, essays, media appearances and speeches. A social media pioneer, Lawson models what it means to teach Torah in digital spaces. She has built a following of more than 50,000 people on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok. In 2020, the Forward named Lawson to its "Forward 50" proclaiming her a "truth teller". Prior to joining Reconstructing Judaism, Lawson served as the Associate Chaplain for Jewish Life and the Senior Jewish Educator at Hillel at Elon University in North Carolina. She is also the founder of Kol Hapanim - All Faces - an inclusive, Jewish community that is relevant, accessible, and rooted in tradition, where all who come are welcomed and diversity is embraced. Lawson was born in St. Louis, Mo. and grew up in a military family. She graduated from Florida's Saint Leo University magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology. She also holds a Master of Arts degree in sociology from Clark Atlanta University. Lawson served in the U.S. Army as a Military Police person with a specialty in Military Police investigations. She specialized in cases involving child abuse and domestic violence. Upon leaving the military, she started a personal training business and later worked as an adjunct instructor of sociology at local community colleges. She has also served as the investigative researcher for the Anti-Defamation League's Southeast Region, becoming the go-to person when law enforcement in the South needed information on hate groups. Lawson lives in North Carolina with her wife Susan and three "fur babies": Izzy, Bridget and Simon. "When people think about antiracism, they ask, "what is the one thing I am supposed to do?' But there is no one thing because you've got 400-plus years of systemic untangling to do," said Lawson. "Yet using Jewish tradition to examine ourselves, to reflect on how we care for and connect with others, is one way to combat systemic racism, and it's a good one."

Rabbi William Plevan

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Rabbi
Visiting Assistant Professor of Contemporary Thought
Visiting Assistant Professor of Contemporary Thought at RRC, Is Organizing the Program.

"This is a chance to think about and learn about the ways in which philanthropy shapes American Jewish life. Berman's work offers us an opportunity to really think about whether democratic norms and the democratic ethos are, or aren't, part of American Jewish life," said Plevan. The Berman program is, fittingly, supported by a philanthropic gift. The Bunis Lecture is named after Louis Bunis, a Reconstructionist leader in Buffalo, N.Y. Bunis, who died in 1989, worked to grow the movement alongside founders like Rabbi Ira Eisenstein and Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan. His son, David Bunis, established the lecture series in the early 1990s to honor his father's legacy and explore relevant issues in contemporary American Jewish life. Plevan, organizer of the program, serves as RRC's Democracy Fellow. This new one-year initiative explores the links between Judaism, particularly the Reconstructionist approach, and democracy. Plevan is serving as the inaugural fellow and is organizing a variety of public programs and classroom opportunities to engage with these topics. Rabbi William Plevan, Ph.D., visiting assistant professor of contemporary thought at RRC, is organizing the program. The fellowship is meant to honor of the work of two retired faculty member: Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, RRC ‘85, who started RRC's social justice organizing program, and Rabbi Nancy Fuchs Kreimer, Ph.D., RRC ‘82, who pioneered the college's approach to multifaith studies. As part of the fellowship, Plevan also will be taking part in a March 20 panel discussion, "Democracy and Judaism: Does One Need the Other to Thrive?", organized by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, the Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood and A More Perfect Union: Jewish Partnership for Democracy (register here.) Democracy comes up in many of Plevan's classes at RRC, particularly a course examining democracy and Jewish sources. He said to expect fall programming in advance of the 2024 elections. Taken together, the fellowship will explore and champion how Reconstructionism teaches that participatory democracy is vital for religious flourishing. "For many people, religious pluralism means keeping religion outside of the public realm," said Plevan. "That wasn't Kaplan's view at all. He taught that what a thriving democracy needs is having different kinds of peoples and traditions and ideas contributing to public life."