Rabbi Rolando Matalon heads the Conservative Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in New York City. He has been part of a team of rabbis that brought this synagogue from the verge of closing to a current membership of 1,800 households. He has brought his focus on social justice and peace to the forefront at B’nai Jeshurun.

Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig heads Washington Hebrew Congregation, a Reform synagogue and the largest Jewish congregation in Washington, D.C. He is active in interfaith issues and helped organize what is called “the nation’s first Abrahamic Summit,” a meeting of Christians, Jews and Muslims for interfaith dialogue.

Rabbi Naomi Levy is the founder of Nashuva, a Jewish worship community in Los Angeles. Levy is widely credited with finding innovative and creative ways of engaging unaffiliated and disaffected Jews with their faith.

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum is a Reform rabbi who leads Congregation Beth Simchat Torah in New York City, the world’s largest synagogue for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Jews.

Rabbi Laura Geller is the principal rabbi at Temple Emanuel, one of the largest Reform synagogues in Beverly Hills, Calif. She was among the first class of women rabbis to be ordained in the Reform movement.

Rabbi Elyse Frishman is a Reform rabbi and spiritual leader of Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes, N.J. She served as editor of the Mishkan T’filah, only the fourth prayer book in the 150-year history of American Reform Judaism.

Rabbi Barry Freundel is the leader of Kesher Israel, a Modern Orthodox congregation in Washington, D.C., whose members include a U.S. senator and a number of other government officials. The congregation maintains an eruv in the middle of the nation’s capital.

Rabbi Andy Bachman and his wife, Rachel Altstein, are leaders in the burgeoning emergent synagogue movement. They are founders of Brooklyn Jews, an informal congregation of young, urban Jews in the New York borough. In 2007, Andy became the head rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim, the borough’s largest Reform synagogue. He writes a blog that is widely read […]

Rabbi Sharon Brous is the founder of IKAR, a Los Angeles-based progressive Jewish community focused sharply on social justice.