 The organization's headquarters inWashington, D.C. | |
| Founded | 1961; 64 years ago (1961) |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner[1] | |
| Website | www |
TheReligious Action Center (RAC) is the political and legislative outreach arm ofReform Judaism in the United States. The Religious Action Center is operated under the auspices of theCommission on Social Action of Reform Judaism, a joint instrumentality of theCentral Conference of American Rabbis and theUnion for Reform Judaism. It was founded in 1961.
Consistent with the political and social concerns of Reform Judaism, the Religious Action Center played a key role in important political events of theAmerican civil rights movement, the struggles ofSoviet Jewry, as well as the ongoing humanitariancrisis in Darfur. It hosted several meetings at which the groundwork for the various pieces of legislation, including theCivil Rights Acts andVoting Rights Acts, were laid. It also shielded civil rights marchers who were attacked byDistrict of Columbia police.
Aside from itscommunity organizing and direct advocacy work, the Religious Action Center has also been a hub ofsocial justice programming for the Reform Jewish community. TheL'Takenseminar series has given thousands of young Jews the opportunity to visit Washington, D.C., and learn aboutpublic policy and Jewish values. The Religious Action Center also hosted aPassover seder for theDalai Lama in the late 1990s. As part of the weekend, students celebrateHavdalah at theJefferson Memorial.
Rabbi David Saperstein served at Religious Action Center from 1974 to 2015, as director and chief legal counsel. In that role he was recognized byNewsweek in 2009 as "the most influential rabbi in the country".[2] On July 28, 2014,PresidentBarack Obama nominated Saperstein to be the first non-Christian to hold the post ofUnited States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.[3] In December 2014, Saperstein's appointment to the post wonU.S. Senate confirmation.[4][5]
In January 2015, Saperstein was succeeded at Religious Action Center by Rabbi Jonah Pesner.[6] Pesner grew up inNew York, and served as a congregational rabbi inBoston. He created "Just Congregations" in 2006, a program that teaches congregations to join in interfaith advocacy for social justice issues. Pesner will continue to serve as Senior Vice President of the Union for Reform Judaism,[7] a post he has held since 2011.[8]The Washington Post described the director position at Religious Action Center as being "the closest thing to being American Jews'lobbyist on mostly non-Israel issues." Those issues have included health care,prison reform,marriage equality andreproductive freedom, while Pesner expects to increase the organization's focus on racial and economic disparities.[6]
Because Religious Action Center's priorities most closely approximate those of theDemocratic Party, Religious Action Center has, at times, struggled in an increasingly polarized Congress. Saperstein's close alignment with the Democratic Party at times earned him suspicion of theRepublican Party,[9] while Pesner will represent a Jewish community at a time whenGallup polls show Jewish loyalty to the Democratic Party has dropped from 71% in 2008 to 61% in 2014.[10]
In 2021, the DC chapter of theSunrise Movement called for the removal of the RAC, theNational Council of Jewish Women, and theJewish Council for Public Affairs from a voting rights coalition due to their Israeli ties and support forZionism. Sunrise DC apologized after Jewish organizations condemned the chapter forantisemitism.[11]
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