Ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2003, Rabbi Maurice Harris is Associate Director for Thriving Communities and Israel Affairs Specialist at Reconstructing Judaism. Previously, Maurice served as Associate Rabbi and Head of School at Temple Beth Israel in Eugene, OR. Maurice is the author of three books: Moses: A Stranger Among Us (2012), Leviticus: You Have No Idea (2013), and The Forgotten Sage: Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah and the Birth of Judaism as We Know It (2019), all from Cascade Books. He blogs at theaccidentalrabbi.substack.com.
He is married to Melissa Crabbe, and they have two children, Clarice Harris and Hunter Harris.
When we began our Israel journey together in Tel Aviv on March 7th, we were 25 people representing 11 Reconstructionist communities who travelled there on the promise to go places and meet people that even veteran Israel travelers hadn’t visited or met. And on that promise, the Reconstructing Judaism Israel Mission Trip delivered.
Reflections on Israel as it turns 70
Rabbi Maurice Harris examines the Torah’s treatment of Moses’ up-close encounters with God.
Abraham and Sarah’s desperate journey to Egypt as refugees reminds us that remembering the heart of the stranger is at the core of Jewish experience.
When we say “God” what do we mean? Ideas of God have changed dramatically over Jewish history. These Powerpoint slides explore some of that evolution. These slides accompanied Rabbi Maurice Harris’s talk from the Global Day of Jewish Learning, 2010.
This printable resource pairs selected quotes from Solomon Northup’s autobiographical memoir, “12 Years a Slave,” with quotes from the Exodus and other Jewish texts.
This is a short Passover reading that expresses appreciation for people of backgrounds and identities other than Judaism. It would work well in a community seder, as well as home seders.
An easily-accessible text study about the ethnic ambiguity that the Torah presents us with regarding the midwives who refused to obey Pharaoh’s orders.
In the first two chapters of the Torah, we find two different accounts of the creation of humanity. In this text study, Rabbi Maurice Harris explores the tension between these two stories, and presents a teaching from Midrash Bereishit Rabbah that presents food for thought about gender, essentialism, and the nature of humanity.
Serving as central organization of the Reconstructionist movement
Training the next generation of groundbreaking rabbis
Modeling respectful conversations on pressing Jewish issues
Curating original, Jewish rituals, and convening Jewish creatives
