Sharon Kleinbaum

Sharon Kleinbaum (born 1959) serves as spiritual leader of New York City’s Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (CBST, the largest LGBTQ synagogue in the world). She was installed as CBST's first rabbi in 1992, arriving at the height of the AIDS crisis when the synagogue was in desperate need of pastoral care and spiritual leadership. [1][2][3] She is a prominent advocate for human rights.[3] She graduated from Barnard College and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where she was ordained.[3] While at Barnard College, she led protests against Barnard’s investments in South Africa and against the proliferation of nuclear weapons.[2] She has two daughters.[2]

Rabbi Kleinbaum served on Mayor Bloomberg's Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) Runaway and Homeless Youth and New York Police Department’s LGBT Advisory Committee (2009-2010). Rabbi Kleinbaum has also served on Mayor de Blasio's Transition Committee (2013-2014). She is a Commissioner on New York City’s Commission on Human Rights, serves on Mayor de Blasio’s Faith Based Advisory Council (2014) and the U.S Department of State’s Religion and Foreign Policy Working Group Sub-working Group on Social Justice (2014).

Awards

Sharon Kleinbaum was named one of the 50 most influential rabbis in America by Newsweek for several years,[4] as well as one of Newsweek's 150 Women Who Shake the World.[5] She was also named one of the Top 10 Women Religious Leaders[6] and one of the 15 Inspiring LGBT Religious Leaders[7] by the Huffington Post. She has also been named one of the country's top 50 Jewish leaders by the Forward [8] and the New York Jewish Week, as well as being named one of Forward's Sisterhood 50 American Influential Rabbis[9] and AM New York named her one of New York City's Most Influential Women for Women's Day.[10]Rabbi Kleinbaum is a recipient of the Jewish Fund for Justice Woman of Valor Award. Other awards she has received include:

Education

Rabbi Kleinbaum is a 1977 graduate of The Frisch Yeshiva High School of Northern New Jersey, and graduated cum laude from Barnard College with a degree in Political Science in 1981. She received her ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1990. Rabbi Kleinbaum has also studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at the Oxford University Centre for Post-Graduate Hebrew and Yiddish Studies.

Articles and Books

Works that Reference Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum

Films that Rabbi Kleinbaum is featured in

References

  1. ↑ Witchel, Alex (May 5, 1993). "AT WORK WITH: Sharon Kleinbaum; 'Luckiest Rabbi In America' Holds Faith Amid the Hate". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Jewish Women and the Feminist Revolution (Jewish Women's Archive)". Jwa.org. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Social Justice | Impact | Stories of Impact | Liberation through Religion: A Conversation with Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum". Arcus Foundation. 2010-10-15. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
  4. ↑ in America by Newsweek 2007-2013
  5. ↑ "150 Women Who Shake the World". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  6. ↑ "Top 10 Women Religious leaders". The Huffington Post. 15 August 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "15 Inspiring LGBT Religious Leaders". The Huffington Post. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  8. ↑ The Forward's Top 50 Jewish Leaders,
  9. ↑ "The Forward's Sisterhood 50 Amererican Influential Women Rabbis". The Jewish Daily Forward. 21 July 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  10. ↑ http://www.amny.com/news/women-s-day-2014-nyc-s-influential-women-1.7327231
  11. ↑ Steinitz, Rebecca. "Liberation through Religion: A Conversation with Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum". Arcus Foundation. Arcus Foundation. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  12. ↑ Shokeid, Moshe (1995). A Gay Synagogue in New York. New York: Columbia University Press.

External links