NJWHVARR: Michael Satz
SEACARR: Elizabeth Bahar
PARR: Heidi Cohen
SWARR: Rebecca Reice
CARR: Frederick Reeves
MWARR: Binah Wing
CANADA: Daniel Mikelberg
MARR: Susan Shankman Namath
DVARR: Kevin Kleinman
CCAR Committees/Working Groups
Program – Rabbinic Wellbeing:
Joint Commission on Rabbinic Mentoring (CCAR Co-Chairs: Mona Alfi and Peter Stein; HUC Co-Chair: Michele Lenke)
Scope of Work: To provide support for new rabbis as they transition from students to being in the field, and to provide mentors with the tools they need to provide support.
Rapid Response (Co-Chairs: Pearl BarLev, Charles Rabinowitz and Edie Meyerson)
Scope of Work: To provide ongoing and ASAP response and availability, offering spiritual and emotional support and consultation for CCAR colleagues who reach out in crisis.
Hesed/Mitzvah (Chair: Irwin Goldenberg)
Scope of Work: To help colleagues and partners/spouses who have financial troubles with subventions.
NCRCR: North American Commission on Rabbinic-Congregational Relations (CCAR Co-Chair: William Kuhn; URJ Co-Chair: Robin Kosberg)
Scope of Work: To improve and nourish the sacred partnership between CCAR rabbis and URJ member congregational lay leaders.
Alcoholism and Addiction Recovery and Response: (Chair: Andrea Cosnowsky)
Scope of Work: To provide guidance and resources for Rabbis and their families who are seeking help with substance abuse and any other kind of addiction.
Program – Learning:
Convention Committee (Chair: Lisa Vinikoor; Vice-Chair: Jeff Brown)
Scope of Work: To plan and implement the CCAR convention in Chicago in March 2025, and hold monthly committee meetings and leadership meetings.
Worship and Practice Committee (Co-Chairs: Rachel Gurevitz and Evan Schultz)
Scope of Work: To create a series of opportunities to explore and discuss best practices around specific aspects and modes of prayer and ritual that may be helpful to colleagues, and to review relevant CCAR Press manuscripts. .
CRE Advisory Group (Chair: Rick Kellner)
Scope of Work: To provide feedback about engagement and experience with the CCAR Continuing Rabbinic Education program; to foster better engagement, interaction and commitment to CRE Offerings; to recommend priorities for rabbinic learning across rabbinic careers and life stages.
Program – Career Services
Rabbinic Placement Commission (Chair: Richard Steinberg)
Scope of Work: To develop policies for rabbis and congregations in the search process. The RPC is currently working on “at will” contracts and states with anti-LGBTQ and anti-reproductive laws and how to navigate that with rabbis and congregations.
Program – Ethics
Ethics Committee (Chair: Loren Filson Lapidus)
Scope of Work: Handle all ethics complaints and cases; provide ethics education to the conference and HUC students upon request.
Ethics Board of Appeals (Chair: Nicole Auerbach)
Scope of Work: Convene as necessary to review decisions of the Ethics Committee.
Ethics Process Review Committee (Chair: Tom Alpert)
Scope of Work: To propose changes to the Ethics Code. The EPRC is currently reviewing recommendations recently submitted by the Ethics Task Force and approved by the Board, as well as recommendations made by CCAR members. We also have several discrete proposals made by Conference members that we are reviewing.
Program – Thought Leadership
Press Council (Chair: Don Goor)
Scope of Work: To review, recommend, and make suggestions regarding book proposals.
CCAR Journal Editorial Board (Chair: Edwin Goldberg)
Scope of Work: This group solicits entries, suggest ideas, and reviews submissions for the Journal.
Program – Reform Movement Leadership
Responsa Committee (Chair: Joan Friedman)
Scope of Work: The committee offers guidance to those who ask on matters of halakha, broadly understood, in consultation with all classical and Reform precedents. The committee is currently working on: plagiarism and AI, alternative ways of disposing of human remains, and several more.
Justice, Peace, and Civil Liberties (Chair: David Spinrad)
Scope of Work: Knowing the breadth of the social justice work being done by Reform rabbis; working with RAC staff and CCAR leadership to envision social justice campaigns for the CCAR, as well as areas of need and engagement.
Resolutions Committee (Chair: Rachel Greengrass)
Scope of Work: To make sure that the CCAR has resolutions on pressing issues of the day. This committee makes sure that CCAR has resolutions steeped in deep Torah and actionable and meaningful steps to take.
Joint Commission on Social Action (CCAR Co-Chair: Ethan Prosnit, URJ Co-chair: Heidi Segal)
Scope of Work: To create opportunities for CCAR members to be more active in the work of the CSA.
Israel Cabinet (Chair: Judy Schindler and Co-chair Max Miller)
Scope of work: To enhance the place of Israel and Zionism in the Reform rabbinate; to provide support and resources for rabbis on Israel and Zionism; to raise a rabbinic voice to advocate and mobilize for Reform Movement values in Israel and in North America, and lead on our Movement wide campaigns.
Operations – Fundraising
Revenue Enhancement — Dan Levin (includes the work of the various developments committees below)
Annual Giving Campaign (Chair: Jonathan Blake and Rachel Safire)
Scope of Work: To work with the professional CCAR development team to oversee the Annual Giving Campaign.
Convention Fundraising (Chair: Allison Berry and Peter Rigler)
Scope of Work: To raise money to support the cost of convention – both for rabbinic scholarships so colleagues with less means can attend and to ensure that the CCAR can continue to run convention without it draining an unsustainable amount from annual costs.
Friends of the CCAR (Rabbinic Chair: Barry Block; Lay Chair: Merle Weiner)
Scope of Work: To coordinate webinars for Friends of the CCAR, review communications with Friends; engage with Friends; and encourage CCAR members to offer names of potential Friends of the CCAR.
Funds and Investments (Chair: Stuart Gertman)
Scope of Work: To make recommendations about investing the Funds and the excess cash of the CCAR and monitor their performance.
Major Gifts (Chair: David Lyon)
Scope of Work: To advise on major gift giving and develop contacts who might be interested in making a major gift to the CCAR.
Dues Chair (Chair Melanie Aron)
Scope of Work: To work with CCAR members who ask for dues arrangements.
Atid Legacy Society (Fred Reiner and Ellen Dreyfus)
Scope of Work: Encouraging CCAR members and spouses to include the CCAR in their estate/will planning.
Operations – Management
CCAR Board of Trustees (President: Erica Asch)
Scope of Work: The board is the leadership of the CCAR. The board sets the mission and goals for the CCAR and partners with staff to carry out the board priorities.
Nominating Committee (Co-Chairs: David Widzer and Alison Kobey)
Scope of Work: To provide the Board slate, including President Elect, for the 2025-2027 CCAR Board. .
Admissions and Membership Committee (Chair: Sue Shankman)
Scope of Work: To shepherd prospective CCAR members through the admissions process, including collecting materials and interviewing candidates.
Budget and Finance Committee (Chair: Adam Miller)
Scope of Work: To work in collaboration with the CCAR CFO to review the financial status of the organization, oversee the annual budget and maintain long term investments. At present we are working on developing ways to address the long-term needs while trying to establish new concepts for fiscal responsibility in this era of ethics and reconciliation.
Budget Committee Investment Subcommittee (Chair: Stuart Gertman)
Scope of Work: Oversee and make recommendations regarding the investment of CCAR funds.
Audit Committee (Chair: Brett Isserow, Andy Farber)
Scope of Work: To liaise with CCAR Financial Staff and the Auditors. At the conclusion of the Audit we meet with the Auditors and review the Financial Statements as well as the audit.
Member Relations
Emerita-us/Successor Relations Working Group (Co-Chairs: Elyse Frishman and Ron Segal)
Scope of work: To develop and implement a pilot initiative to help foster more successful transitions between retiring congregational rabbis and the colleagues who follow them.
Outside Organizations
Conference of Presidents: Erica Seager Asch and Hara Person
International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC): Daniel Polish
Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli-Arab Issues: Janet Liss
Jewish Welfare Board: Bonnie Koppel
National Council of Synagogues: Daniel Polish
National Interreligious Leadership Initiative (NILI): David Stern/Denise Eger
Reform Movement Organizations (HUC-JIR, URJ, etc.): Erica Seager Asch and Hara Person