Rabbi Jonah Pesner

Dear Friends, I write to you today from the Arthur & Sara Jo Kobacker building in Washington D.C., the home of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. I received the honor of a lifetime when Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, announced my appointment as the new Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. For fifty years, the RAC has been the hub of Jewish social justice and legislative activity in Washington, D.C. I have the great honor of succeeding my mentor and friend, Rabbi David Saperstein, who, for forty years, has built the RAC into a powerful force grounded in ancient Jewish values of social justice for North America and across the world. The rabbis taught that in every age we see ourselves as if we ourselves were liberated from bondage. Our work for justice is bound up in the thousands year old essence of what it means to be a Jew.

Today, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism welcomes our new director, Rabbi Jonah Pesner. Rabbi Pesner succeeds long-time director Rabbi David Saperstein, who stepped down following his confirmation as the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. Rabbi Pesner is an accomplished advocate with broad experience leading social justice campaigns, and comes to the RAC with a mandate to deepen its advocacy work while mobilizing the Reform Jewish community and its allies. Read further, including from Rabbi Pesner and words of congratulation from Rabbi Saperstein, URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs, CCAR Chief Executive Rabbi Steve Fox, and from Commission on Social Action Chair Jennifer Kaufman, in this press release from the Union for Reform Judaism.