Rooted in the Bay Area’s history of justice, the CCAR convenes to confront challenges, share voices from the global Reform Movement, and engage in Torah study, rabbinic renewal, and deep dialogue about leading Reform Judaism with hope.
March 15, 2026, San Francisco, CA: The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR)—the Reform rabbinical professional association—is convening four hundred Reform rabbis from across North America and across six continents in the San Francisco Bay Area this week for their 137th annual rabbinic Convention for four days of Torah study, professional development, engaged learning, deep dialogue, and immersive programming.
At a moment when American Jewish communities are navigating profound challenges—from rising antisemitism to deepening political polarization—Convention programming features distinguished Jewish thought leaders addressing the most pressing issues of our time. Historian and scholar Pamela Nadell will address the rabbinate in a session entitled “Antisemitism, An American Tradition,” also the title of her widely acclaimed recent book. Aaron Dorfman, Executive Director of A More Perfect Union: The Jewish Partnership for Democracy, will lead a critical conversation on democracy and the American Jewish community. Dr. Marc Dollinger, Chair of the Department of Jewish Studies at San Francisco State University and author of Black Power, Jewish Politics: Reinventing the Alliance in the 1960s, will explore the changing landscape of Jewish identity.
The Convention will also amplify significant voices from the Israeli Reform Movement, including Israeli Reform Rabbis Efrat Rotem, Binyamin Minich and Yael Vurgan, who will lead the Convention in prayer and share Israeli perspectives on Reform Judaism and liberal Jewish values, and what the post-October 7 Jewish future might look like in America and Israel.
Bay Area rabbis will play a central role throughout the Convention, bringing the region’s rich Jewish and social justice history to life. Rabbi Michael Lezak of GLIDE in San Francisco will lead an immersive tour of GLIDE’s transformative work connecting Reform Judaism’s commitment to justice and inclusivity with on-the-ground community impact.
Rabbi Yoel Kahn, who shepherded Congregation Sha’ar Zahav through the height of the AIDS epidemic, and current Sha’ar Zahav leader Rabbi Mychal Copeland, will lead a walking tour of LGBTQ+ San Francisco’s Jewish past and present, a testament to Reform Judaism’s enduring commitment to inclusion and human dignity. Rabbi Cassi Kail, Director of Jewish Life and University Chaplain at Chapman University, co-leads the Convention’s organizing committee. CCAR Board Member and Senior Rabbi of Oakland’s Temple Sinai, Rabbi Jackie Mates-Muchin, will also play a prominent role.
San Francisco’s historic Congregation Emanu-El will serve as a key Convention destination, with Rabbis Ryan Bauer, Sarah Joselow Parris, Madeline Budman, and Sydney Mintz participating in programming. Rabbi Jonathan Aaron and Cantor Lizzie Weiss of Los Angeles will lead the Convention’s central prayer service. Congregation Emanu-El’s Rabbi Emeritus Jonathan Singer also played an instrumental role in preparation for the Convention.
“City-as-text” offsite experiences will include a visit to City Hope, a community center, restaurant, and sober-living facility in the Tenderloin led by founder Rev. Paul Trudeau; City Hope shares a meaningful partnership with Congregation Emanu-El’s teen program. Additional excursions include a behind-the-scenes preview of the upcoming Courage Museum, a visit to Urban Adamah (an educational farm and community center in Berkeley), and explorations of the intersection between San Francisco’s storied social justice landscape and the values of Reform Judaism.
The CCAR will also honor members celebrating their fiftieth anniversary of their ordination.
“This is no easy time to be a rabbi. In addition to leading congregations and communities through deepening uncertainty and polarization, rabbis are spiritual first responders—continually leading from crisis to crisis, giving to their communities, even when their own spiritual well has run dry. Our annual gathering is a way for the CCAR to give back to rabbis: to nourish them with the strength of their rabbinic community, to provide them with the tools to navigate ongoing uncertainty, and most importantly, to build resilience and reinvigorate them with hope and clarity as we reimagine our sacred work together.” —Rabbi Hara Person, Chief Executive, Central Conference of American Rabbis.
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The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) is the Reform Rabbinic leadership and professional association. The CCAR strengthens the Jewish community by providing religious, spiritual, ethical and intellectual leadership and wisdom. CCAR and its members lead the Reform Movement on important spiritual, social, cultural and human rights issues, as it has done since 1889. The CCAR is also the center for lifelong rabbinic learning, professional development, and resources for the more than 2,100 rabbis who serve more than 2 million Reform Jews throughout North America, Israel, and the world. Since its founding, the CCAR has also served as the primary publisher of the Reform Movement through CCAR Press and its imprint Reform Judaism Publishing.
Contact: Tamar Anitai, CCAR Director of Strategic Communications, tanitai@ccarnet.org