Abstract
In the midst of the current economic crisis, people of all faiths are looking to religion for solace and guidance in moving forward to create a more just and sustainable American society. Drawing on Jewish wisdom and focusing on contemporary policy debates, Rabbi Jacobs will explore how we may ethically respond to some of today’s most vexing social and economic issues.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs is the director of Ma’aseh: The Center for Jewish Social Justice Education and the author of There Shall be No Needy: Pursuing Social Justice through Jewish Law and Tradition (Jewish Lights, 2009). A leading expert on Judaism and social justice, she writes and speaks frequently on issues such as poverty, labor relations, housing and homelessness, criminal justice, and environmental sustainability. She has taught at synagogues, Jewish Community Centers, and schools throughout the United States and has published articles in more than two dozen books, journals, and magazines. Rabbi Jacobs has been named to The Jewish Daily Forward’s list of 50 influential American Jews (2006 and 2008), to The Jewish Week's first list of "36 under 36" (2008), and to Newsweek's list of the 50 most influential rabbis in America (2009 and 2010). She has served as rabbi-in-residence of Jewish Funds for Justice and as director of outreach and education for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. She earned a B.A. in comparative literature from Columbia University (1997), a M.S. in urban affairs from Hunter College (2003), and a M.A. in Talmud/Rabbinics and rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (2003).