President and CEO, Rabbi Elliott Tepperman
Rabbi Tepperman comes to this role with decades of service to the Reconstructionist movement. He is a rabbi, teacher, community builder and passionate advocate for the kind of Judaism we are all striving to create: one rooted in tradition, open to question and relentlessly committed to a more just world.Â
Rabbi Tepperman was selected by Reconstructing Judaism’s Board of Governors following a comprehensive national search. He succeeds Rabbi Deborah Waxman, who has served as President/CEO for 13 years and whose trailblazing leadership transformed how the Reconstructionist movement is seen and heard across the Jewish communal landscape.Â
I am humbled and energized by this opportunity. Reconstructing Judaism has always been a home for serious, courageous Jewish thinking and living. I look forward to listening deeply to our congregations, our students, our clergy and our broader community — and to working together to build the bold, joyful and justice-centered Jewish future that our tradition calls us toward. I have dedicated my adult life to serving this movement that has so deeply shaped me as a Jew and as a rabbi. It is an honor to follow in the footsteps of my strong predecessors, and it will be a privilege to work with extraordinary communities of our movement and exceptional staff, faculty, students and leaders at Reconstructing Judaism.
A Track Record of Leadership
24 years as spiritual leader
of Bnai Keshet in Montclair, NJ
Founder of community organizing groups
including New Jersey Together
Past president of the Reconstructionist
Rabbinical Association
Watch and Listen
Rabbi Elliott Tepperman’s heartfelt explanation of why a Reconstructionist approach matters, told through stories from Bnai Keshet
Rabbi Elliott Tepperman on remembering
we were strangers in Egypt
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- Opening Plenary from our event, "All of the People Israel are Responsible for One Another"
- Rabbi Tepperman's High Holiday 2025 Sermon
- Creating Inclusive Community panel, 2022 convention
- "You Were Strangers in Egypt": Passover and Sanctuary
- Reconstructionist Values, Covenantal Community and War in the Middle East
In His Own Words
Rabbi Tepperman is quoted in this Religion News Service story on the rise of Jewish mindfulness, sharing why he sees meditation as a way to help people feel God and connect with their inner spiritual lives.Â
