Meet Our Founding Rabbi
Brant Rosen | he/him
A native of Los Angeles, our founding rabbi, Brant Rosen was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1992 and served congregations in Los Angeles and Denver before coming to the Chicago area in 1998 to serve as rabbi of Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation (JRC). In 2014, he left JRC to become the Midwest Regional Director of the American Friends Service Committee and in 2015, helped found Tzedek Chicago. Through his leadership, our congregation quickly grew and in 2019, he became our full-time rabbi.
Rabbi Brant is a prominent leader in the fast-growing movement for anti-Zionist Judaism. He is the co-founder, with Rabbi Alissa Wise, the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council and was its co-chair for many years, He is also the co-founder, with Rabbi Brian Walt, of the Jewish Fast for Gaza, and currently serves on the spokescouncil of the Jewish Diaspora Movement.
Rabbi Brant’s writings have appeared in many journals and publications as well as in his weekly newsletter, Shalom Rav. He is the author of the book, Wrestling in the Daylight: A Rabbi’s Path to Palestinian Solidarity and, with Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, an upcoming collection of poems, prayers and art, “As We Say These Words.” Rabbi Brant has also contributed essays to a number of anthologies including "Zionism and the Quest for Peace in the Holy Land," "On Antisemitism: Solidarity and the Struggle for Justice," "Reclaiming Judaism from Zionism: Stories of Personal Transformation” and the upcoming “Jewish Anti-Zionism: A Historical Anthology.”
Click here to read Rabbi Brant's inaugural Rosh Hashanah sermon for Tzedek Chicago.