50 Influential Rabbis

Newsweek Web Exclusive

Email To A Friend

Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.

SPONSORED BY

25. Sharon Kleinbaum (2008 Ranking #17) Kleinbaum is the Senior Rabbi of New York's synagogue for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Jews.

26. M. Bruce Lustig (2008 Ranking #24) Lustig is the leader of Washington Hebrew Congregation, the largest congregation in Washington, D.C.

27. Art Green (2008 Ranking #23) Green is Dean of Hebrew College's Rabbinical School.

28. Daniel Brenner (NEW) Brenner is the new Executive Director of Birthright Next.

29. Abraham Cooper (2008 Ranking #25) Cooper is the Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

30. David Stern (2008 Ranking #26) Stern is leader of the largest congregation in the Southwest, Temple Emanu-El in Dallas

31. Sharon Brous (2008 Ranking #30) Brous is the founder of IKAR, one of America's most dynamic new congregations.

32. Stephen Pearce (2008 Ranking #47) Pearce is the leader of San Francisco's largest congregation, with 2,700 families.

33. Marc Schneier (Returning from 2007 List) Schneier is President and Founder of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding.

34. Kerry M. Olitzky (2008 Ranking #32) Olitzky is one of the leading rabbinical advocates for outreach to interfaith and unaffiliated families in America.

35. Ephraim Buchwald (2008 Ranking #44) Buchwald is the Founder of the National Jewish Outreach Program.

36. Arthur Schneier (2008 Ranking #28) Schneier is the spiritual leader of Park East Synagogue and Founder and President of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation. He is the first rabbi to host the Pope at his synagogue.

37. Mark Golub (NEW) Golub is the CEO of Shalom Television.

38. Avi Weiss (2008 Ranking #36) Weiss is the driving force behind the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale.

39. Naomi Levy (2008 Ranking #41) Levy is a popular author and a leading woman in the Conservative movement.

40. Bradley Shavit Artson (2008 Ranking #31) Artson is the Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University.

41. Elliot Dorff (2008 Ranking #35) Dorff is the leader of the top lawmaking body in Conservative Judaism.

42. Bradley Hirschfield (2008 Ranking #39) Hirschfeld is the Co-President of CLAL and an outspoken proponent of interfaith dialogue.

43. Hayim Herring (2008 Ranking #40) Herring is Executive Director of STAR (Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal).

44. Ed Feinstein (NEW) Feinstein has taken Valley Beth Shalom to a whole new level.

45. Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (2008 Ranking #27) Schacter-Shalomi is Founder of the Jewish Renewal Movement in America.

46. Elie Kaunfer (NEW) Kaunfer is the Founder of Mechon Hadar and Kehilat Hadar.

47. Harold Loss (2008 Ranking #42) Loss has more than 12,000 members in his congregation at Temple Israel in Detroit, MI.

48. Jill Jacobs (NEW) Rabbi-in-Residence at the Jewish Funds for Justice.

49. Joy Levitt (NEW) Levitt is the Executive Director of the JCC of Manhattan.

50. Michael Paley (2008 Ranking #48) Paley is the scholar-in-residence and director of the Jewish Resource Center of the UJA-Federation of New York.

« Prev Page

Member Comments

- Reply
- Report Abuse
Posted By: hillelleib @ 04/23/2009 12:52:59 PM

Not a single Rabbi from a mainstream Torah Learning/Teaching Institution. I guess G-D boesn't have a place amoung the Rabbis of the United States.
- Reply
- Report Abuse
Posted By: howie_stern1 @ 04/12/2009 11:28:48 PM

what does gender equality have to do with rabbinical qualifications. why not include child molesters & the mentally impaired , people under 20 just to ensure we have proper representation of jewishish demographics
- Reply
- Report Abuse
Posted By: martlaur @ 04/12/2009 1:56:00 PM

Thank you for including many rabbis who are not fundamentalists. Most of us who are Jews are not fundamentalists. We believe in living in the world, caring about the world, and working to make this a better world, as a result ,in part of the teachings of our non-fundamentalist rabbis.