Rabbi David Nathan Saperstein

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Saperstein_(rabbi)

David Saperstein David Saperstein 2015.jpg United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom In office January 6, 2015 – January 20, 2017 President Barack Obama Preceded by Suzan Johnson Cook Succeeded by Sam Brownback Personal details Born August 5, 1947 (age 70) New York City, New York, U.S. Alma mater Cornell University Hebrew Union College American University David Nathan Saperstein is an American rabbi, lawyer, Jewish community leader[1] and former United States Ambassador.[2] He served as the director and chief legal counsel at the Union for Reform Judaism's Religious Action Center for more than 30 years.[3] Saperstein succeeded Rabbi Richard G. Hirsch as leader of the Washington D.C.-based political lobbying arm of the North American Reform movement. There, he advocated on a broad range of social justice issues. He directed a staff who provided extensive legislative and programmatic materials to synagogues, federations and Jewish Community Relations Councils nationwide, coordinating social action education programs that train nearly 3,000 Jewish adults, youth, rabbinic and lay leaders each year.[3] He has been described as America’s most influential rabbi.[4]

On July 28, 2014, President Obama nominated Saperstein to be the first non-Christian to hold the post of United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.[2] In December 2014 Saperstein's appointment to the post won U.S. Senate confirmation.[5][6]

He currently co-chairs the Coalition to Preserve Religious Liberty, and serves on the boards of the NAACP, Common Cause, and People For the American Way. In 1999, Saperstein was elected as the first Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.[7]

On August 28, 2008, Saperstein delivered the invocation at the Democratic National Convention's final session, before Senator Barack Obama accepted the party's nomination for president.[8] In February 2009, he was named to President Obama's Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.[9] Saperstein is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center.[10]

He is a graduate member in good standing of the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity.[11] While still a student Rabbi, he officiated over the High Holidays Service that were held in Saranac Lake, New York one year.

Designated by Newsweek Magazine as the most influential rabbi in America and by the Washington Post as the “quintessential religious lobbyist on Capitol Hill,” David Saperstein, for decades, directed the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, representing the Reform Jewish Movement, the largest segment of American Jewry, to Congress and the Administration.

For over two years (through Jan. 2017), Rabbi Saperstein served our nation as the U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, carrying out his responsibilities as the country’s chief diplomat on religious freedom issues. Also an attorney, he taught seminars on Church –State law and Jewish Law for 35 years at Georgetown University Law Center.

During his career, Rabbi Saperstein has served as the chair or co-chair of several national interreligious coalitions including the Coalition to Preserve Religious Liberty and served on the boards or executive committees of numerous national organizations including the NAACP, People for The American Way, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Religious Partnership on the Environment and the World Faith Development Dialogue. He currently serves as a Senior Fellow at both the Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs and its School of Foreign Service's Center for Jewish Civilization as well as the Senior Advisor for Strategy and Policy for the Union for Reform Judaism.

Rabbi Saperstein is married to Ellen Weiss, an award-winning journalist and has two sons, Daniel and Ari.