J Street Announces Launch of Jewish Communal Advisory Council and Welcomes Rabbi David Saperstein to the J Street Board

Washington, DC – Today, J Street announces the creation of the Jewish Communal Advisory Council and the addition of Rabbi Ambassador David Saperstein to the J Street Board of Directors.

Rabbi Amb. Saperstein is the director emeritus of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and served as its director and counsel for 40 years. He was the first rabbi in American history to be designated as an ambassador, serving as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. As an attorney, he has also taught on church-state law and Jewish law for 35 years at Georgetown University Law Center.

The Jewish Communal Advisory Council will serve as strategic advisors for J Street staff and leaders in their engagement with American Jewish leadership and related institutions. Concerned that Israel’s survival today as a Jewish, democratic homeland is gravely imperiled – as much from growing domestic ethnonationalism and authoritarianism as from regional threats–the Council will bring together prominent Jewish communal leaders, including former heads of major organizations, members of Congress, and more. Together their advice, support and critiques will help advance an agenda that bolsters the Israel promised in its Declaration of Independence, thriving in relationships with both the United States and the American Jewish community–steeped in our values–for generations to come.

“The Jewish community, its leadership, and the United States must do everything possible to strengthen the many in Israel dedicated to preserving the founders' democratic vision and enhancing the use of diplomacy, backed by Israel's strength, to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict. J Street understands that,” said Rabbi Amb. Saperstein. "As a liberal Zionist organization, J Street is leading the way forward with growing credibility and influence--on Capitol Hill, in the Jewish community writ large, and distinctly among American Jewish youth. At such a time as this, I am honored to join J Street's board of directors and to work alongside the distinguished Jewish leaders of the new Jewish Communal Advisory Council to seek broader support and embrace of J Street's role in the Jewish community."

“David Saperstein is one of the most influential and important communal voices in American Jewish life, and we are deeply honored to have him join the J Street board,” said J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami. “His leadership, together with that of our new Jewish Communal Advisory Council, will position J Street well to deepen our engagement with American Jewish institutions as we fight for a pro-Israel vision that guarantees peace, security, democracy and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

The initial members of the J Street Jewish Communal Advisory Council are: 

• Howard Berman, US Representative (CA-26, CA-28), 1983-2013; Chair, House Foreign Affairs Committee, 2008-2011
• Allan Finkelstein, President and CEO, JCC Association of North America, 1994-2015
• E. Robert Goodkind, President, American Jewish Committee, 2004-2007
• Rabbi Steve Gutow, President and CEO, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, 2005–2015
• Peter Joseph, Chair, Israel Policy Forum, 2008-2016
• Jennifer Brodkey Kaufman, Chair, Union for Reform Judaism, 2019-2024
• Nancy Kaufman, CEO, National Council of Jewish Women, 2011-2019
• Rabbi Irwin Kula, President, Clal, 1997-2022
• Mel Levine, US Representative (CA-27), 1983-1993
• Rabbi Brian Lurie, Executive Director, Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties, 1974-1991; Executive Vice President, National United Jewish Appeal, 1991-1996
• Lynn Lyss, Chair, National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council 1995-1997
• Charles Horowitz Ratner, Chair, The Jewish Agency for Israel, 2014-2017; Chair, Jewish Federation of Cleveland, 2000-2003
• Seymour Reich, Chair, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, 1989-1990; International President, B'nai B'rith International, 1986-1990
• Hannah Rosenthal, US Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism, 2009-2012; President and CEO, Milwaukee Jewish Federation, 2012-2018
• Dr. John Ruskay, Executive Vice President and CEO, UJA-Federation of New York, 1999-2014
• Rabbi Amb. David Saperstein, US Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, 2014-2016; Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, 1974-2014
• Rabbi Dr. Ismar Schorsch, Chancellor, The Jewish Theological Seminary, 1986-2006
• Alan Solow, Chair, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, 2009-2011; Chair, JCC Association of North America, 2006-2010
• Rabbi Dr. Deborah Waxman, President and CEO, Reconstructing Judaism, 2014-2026
• Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President, Union for Reform Judaism, 1996-2012
• Larry Zicklin, President, UJA-Federation of New York, 2001-2004

Titles are for identification purposes only.

The Jewish Communal Advisory Council members released a joint statement on Substack explaining why they are joining the JCAC and what role they hope it will play in the future of J Street and the American Jewish community.