INVESTING IN COURAGEOUS JEWISH LEADERSHIP
In honor of Rabbi Deborah Waxman’s 13 years as President and CEO of Reconstructing Judaism, we are proud to launch The Rabbi Deborah Waxman Fund for Innovative Leadership.Â
This fund invests in the future of a Jewish movement that is both deeply rooted and boldly relevant—one that meets today’s challenges with intellectual rigor, moral courage, and a commitment to relationship-centered innovation. It will ensure that Reconstructing Judaism continues to model a Judaism capable of holding nuance, complexity, and difference while actively shaping new forms of communal life.Â
A Legacy of Courageous Engagement
Throughout the most challenging moments of the past decade—when polarization intensified and many institutions retreated from hard conversations—Deborah chose courageous engagement.Â
She leaned in rather than pulling back, insisting that meaningful progress comes through sustained dialogue, careful listening, and a willingness to be changed by encounter. Under her leadership, disagreement became an opportunity for learning, and complexity became a source of strength rather than a liability.Â
Deborah has consistently reminded us that covenantal community is built not on sameness, but on shared values practiced across difference and over generations.Â
A Trailblazing Leader
As the first woman rabbi and LGBTQ person to lead a national Jewish denomination in North America, Deborah brought the insight of a trailblazer into her leadership.Â
She has used that position not simply to break barriers, but to widen them—creating space for voices too often marginalized or excluded and modeling a culture of genuinely inclusive, relational dialogue. Her leadership demonstrates that innovation in Jewish life is inseparable from justice, humility, and the courage to name hard truths.Â
Strengthening the Reconstructionist Voice
Deborah also transformed how the Reconstructionist movement is seen and heard across the broader Jewish communal landscape.Â
At a time when public discourse often erased Reconstructionist Judaism altogether, she asserted its presence with clarity and confidence. She articulated repeatedly the relevance of a Reconstructionist approach for a rapidly changing world: a Judaism that is intellectually serious, ethically grounded, and unafraid to wrestle openly with the most complex questions of our time.Â
Your Gift Fuels the Next Generation
Contributions to The Rabbi Deborah Waxman Fund for Innovative Leadership honor Deborah’s extraordinary legacy by ensuring that her successor—and the leaders who follow—have the resources to continue this work.Â
The fund will:Â
- Support senior Jewish leaders who embrace wholeness and complexityÂ
- Strengthen relationship-centered leadership across the movementÂ
- Equip leaders to engage courageously with discomfort and disagreementÂ
- Sustain a Judaism that meets this moment with creativity, integrity, and hopeÂ
Why This Matters
Jewish communities today are navigating polarization, institutional distrust, and profound questions about identity and belonging. Many organizations avoid these tensions.Â
Reconstructing Judaism engages them directly.Â
This fund ensures that courageous leadership isn’t situational—it’s sustained.Â
Join Us
A gift to the Rabbi Deborah Waxman Fund for Innovative Leadership is an investment in leaders prepared to meet complexity with confidence and moral imagination.Â
Donation Note: ​​
All contributions to Reconstructing Judaism are tax-deductible as permitted by law. Reconstructing Judaism’s tax ID number is 23-1710675.
Please note: Reconstructing Judaism conducts some business as the entity Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. These names are interchangeable for legal and gift purposes.
Call us at (267) 856‑3525 or email Sophia Barrett with any questions.
