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The Future of Faith: A Dialogue of Hope

Mon, Apr 24, 2023 • 12:00 PM1:00 PM

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Join an online panel discussion with Rabbi Joshua Stanton, Rabbi Benjamin Spratt, Simran Singh, The Reverend Dr. Jacqueline Lewis and Rabbi Joui Hessel about religion in America and explore what has changed, what has remained the same and what might become possible in the future.

This program is part of the Bronfman Center for Jewish Life and is presented in partnership with the Aspen Institute, CLAL, Congregation Rodeph Sholom, East End Temple, and Middle Collegiate Church.

The Panelists

Rabbi Ben Spratt

Rabbi Ben Spratt is the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Rodeph Sholom in Manhattan, and coauthor with Rabbi Joshua Stanton of Awakenings: American Jewish Transformations in Identity, Leadership, and Belongingrodephsholom.org/rabbispratt

Rabbi Joshua Stanton

Rabbi Joshua Stanton is spiritual co-leader of East End Temple, Director of Leadership and Formation at CLAL, and coauthor with Rabbi Benajmin Spratt of Awakenings: American Jewish Transformations in Identity, Leadership, and Belonging.

Simran Singh

Simran is Executive Director for the Aspen Institute’s Religion & Society Program and author of The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life. He is a visiting professor of history and religion at Union Theological Seminary and a Soros Equality Fellow with the Open Society Foundations, and in 2020 TIME Magazine recognized him among sixteen people fighting for a more equal America. His work has appeared in The New York TimesThe Washington Post, and CNN, and he is a columnist for Religion News Service.

Author of the award-winning children’s book Fauja Singh Keeps Going: The True Story of the Oldest Person to Ever Run a Marathon, Simran is an engaging guest speaker who delivers keynotes and facilitates workshops. His message has been described as “critical and essential” and he’s noted for his “unwavering and empathetic approach to anti-racist work.” Simran lives in New York City with his family.

The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis

The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis uses her gifts as author, activist, preacher, and public theologian toward creating an antiracist, just, fully welcoming, gender affirming society, free of gun violence, in which everyone has enough. She holds an M.Div from Princeton Theological Seminary and a PhD in Psychology and Religion from Drew University. Lewis came to lead Middle Church—a multiethnic rainbow coalition of spirituality, justice and the arts—in January 2004. Lewis co-founded The Middle Project and The Revolutionary Love Conference with her spouse, Rev. John Janka, which train leaders to create a more just society. Now in its 17th year, this justice conference has featured thought leaders and change agents like Otis Moss III, Tituss Burgess, Valarie Kaur, William J. Barber II, Melissa Harris-Perry, Wajahat Ali, Linda Sarsour, Sharon Brous, Raphael Warnock, Brian McLaren, angel Kyodo Williams and Ruby Sales. Dr. Lewis and Middle Church have been featured widely in the media, including The Today ShowGood Morning AmericaFront Line at PBS, ABC, NBC, PBS, CBS, CNN, The New York Times, The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, The Brian Lehrer ShowAll Things Considered and The Takeaway.

Lewis most recent book is Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness That Can Heal the World (Harmony/Penguin Random House, 2021). Her next book is the Just Love Story Bible for Children (Beaming Books, 2025).

Rabbi Joui Hessel

Rabbi Joui Hessel is the Director of Bronfman Center for Jewish Life at 92NY.

Prior to this position, she served Washington Hebrew Congregation for 13 years; first as a pulpit rabbi and then as Rabbi and Director of Religious Education and Jewish Engagement overseeing one of the nation’s largest religious schools. She has also served as an Assistant Director for Recruitment and Admissions at HUC-JIR and as adjunct and clinical faculty for the HUC-JIR NY School of Education.

Rabbi Hessel was ordained from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, NY in June 2001. Rabbi Hessel also received a Masters Degree in Hebrew Letters in 1998 and a Masters Degree in Jewish Education in 1999, both from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

Rabbi Hessel has co-authored The Hanukkah Family Treasury, published by Running Hill Press. She has also been published in the CCAR’s publications The Sacred Encounter (2014) and Mishkan T’fila for Youth (2014), Moment Magazine (June 2007) as well as in a book on parenting young adult children, Mom, Can I Move Back in with You: A Survival Guide for Parents of Twentysomethings, published by Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium. Rabbi Hessel has offered the opening prayer at the United States House of Representatives and at the White House on the National Day of Prayer. She served as an auxiliary board member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, representing the Women’s Rabbinic Network.

Rabbi Hessel lives in Greenwich, Connecticut with her sassy and precocious five-year-old daughter. She sits on the Board of Directors for both the United Way of Greenwich and the UJA/JCC Greenwich.