Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner

Rabbi Jonah Pesner is the founding Director of Just Congregations. He works with synagogues pursuing social justice across the country and teaches on all three campuses of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. As a congregational rabbi at Temple Israel in Boston, he pioneered the Fain Award-winning "Ohel Tzedek/Tent of Justice" social action initiative. He has led efforts to engage thousands of members of congregations to join together in successful campaigns for health care access, affordable housing, public education, gay and lesbian rights, nursing care workers rights, and living wage. As a leader of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, Rabbi Pesner was the chair of the GBIO effort in the Massachusetts "Affordable Care Today!" coalition that successfully secured health care for more than half a million uninsured residents of the Commonwealth. Rabbi Pesner chairs the board of the Jewish Organizing Initiative. He was the Meyer W. Nathans Scholar at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion where he was ordained in 1997.

Faith and Practice

Calling Jewish Activists: Synagogues Need You and You Need Them

By Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner

Chanukah is the holiday celebrating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. But what about the temples in our own backyards – can they be rededicated, to social justice?