Beyond the Bimah: Latest from Rabbi Spratt
Rude ‘Awakenings’: Communal transformations in our time of crisis
By Rabbi Joshua Stanton, Rabbi Benjamin Spratt A year and a half ago, we published a book on the awakenings transforming Jewish life for the better. While we found that mainstay organizations…
In Solidarity: Rodeph Sholom Israel Trip
When we invited our congregation to join us for an information session on October 4th about next year’s intergenerational trip to Israel, the world looked very different than it does…
Builders of Light • Rabbi Spratt’s Response to “National Day of Hate”
Builders of Light Rabbi Spratt’s Response to “National Day of Hate” This weekend, in synagogues around the world, we will read the details of the Tabernacle and the Jewish call…
18Doors: Transforming Jewish Responses to Interfaith Marriage
A discussion between Rabbis Joshua Stanton and Benjamin Spratt, the Center for Radically Inclusive Judaism’s Edmund Case, and 18Doors’ Jodi Bromberg and Rabbi Robyn Frisch on current transformations in attitudes…
JBS: “In the Spotlight” – Rabbis Spratt & Stanton
Having taken an unsparing look at the landscape of Jewish life for their book Awakenings, Rabbis Benjamin Spratt & Joshua Stanton join Abigail Pogrebin to discuss what they see as…
Courageous Conversations: What Does Your Faith Say About Belonging to Each Other?
As we work to nourish a culture of belonging in our communities, how can faith be a bridge of cooperation rather than a barrier of division? Courageous Community welcomes Eboo…
The Wisdom Daily / CLAL / 92NY / Fellowship in Prayer
Wisdom for Builders: Providing Jewish inspiration for those who build community, initiative, and social venture with Rabbis Benjamin Spratt, Joshua Stanton, and Joui Hessel. Read more here >
Rabbi Spratt at Religion News Service
Stories by Rabbis Spratt and Stanton surrounding the book, Awakenings: American Jewish Transformations in Identity, Leadership, and Belonging. Read here >
My Jewish Learning: Rabbi Without Borders
Sukkot and a New Ecosystem of Jewish Leadership by Benjamin Spratt and Joshua Stanton Read More Here.
Zioness Presents The New Jewish Awakening
Inspired, nimble religious organizations of all kinds are now retooling to meet the very different needs of American Judaism today. Zioness is a key example of this trend, in creating…
Opinion: Religion News
Bishop Robert Stearns wants to reinvent evangelicalism without leaving it behind. The pastor from western New York is one of a rising cohort of evangelical leaders who are looking beyond…
Principles of the Jewish Awakening
Our numbers are growing, American Jews burst with pride of identity – and yet many of our institutions remain in decline. This combination of circumstances is creating space for those…
American Jewish Experiences of Identity & Belonging
Springtide Research Institute’s Head of Community Engagement Marte Aboagye was joined by Rabbi Joshua Stanton and Rabbi Benjamin Spratt: co-authors of the just released book, “Awakenings: American Jewish Transformations in…
Community: Tablet
The New Jewish Awakening: Our obsession with the narrative of our community’s decline overlooks threads of optimism and opportunity by Benjamin Spratt and Joshua Stanton. Read the article here.
Book Review: The Jerusalem Post
American Jewry needs to wake up to new possibilities – book review: In contrast to the narrative of constant decline, two young American rabbis offer a powerfully positive and perhaps…
Rabbis Without Borders: My Jewish Learning
Commodifying Faith by Benjamin Spratt and Joshua Stanton Read the article here.
Tri-Faith Initiative: Awakenings with Rabbi Josh Stanton and Rabbi Ben Spratt
Join the authors of Awakenings: American Jewish Transformations in Identity, Leadership, and Belonging (https://www.amazon.com/Awakenings-Ame…, Rabbis Joshua Stanton and Benjamin Spratt, and Executive Director Wendy Goldberg as they dive into critical…
Senior Clergy Installation Response: The Story of Tonight
Senior Rabbi Ben Spratt and Senior Cantor Shayna De Lowe 5.20.2022 BEN: The story of tonight is really the story of this community. Ours is the story of two people…
Opinion: Haaretz
American Judaism Is in Decline. That’s Great News for American Jews: Synagogues closing, rising intermarriage, deepening denominational and political rifts: That’s one way to tell the story of today’s American…
Opinion: Daily Beast
Break Up America’s Clergy Cartel [God Is Not A Business]: We’re Reform rabbis who want more transparency for clergy contracts and fewer protectionist obstacles that keep good people from answering…
Talking to Our Children about Uvalde and Other Tragedies
Upon the tragedy in Uvalde, listen to Rabbi Spratt on the Exit Strategy Podcast as he discusses how we can best support, guide, and love our children through and beyond…
Turning Together in Heartbreak
We send our deepest condolences to the family and communities of Uvalde, Texas. May the tragedies that define these days move our hearts towards our highest sense of humanity, and…
Opinion: The Jerusalem Post
Judaism must learn to welcome outsiders to its traditions: Non-Jewish people should be able to explore Jewish traditions and elements without having to commit to converting by Benjamin Spratt and…
Review: Publishers Weekly
The future of American Judaism looks bright, contend rabbis Stanton and Spratt in their strong debut. The authors argue that the “seeds of a new Jewish awakening” lie with “those…
Opinion: eJewish Philanthropy
New Kinds of Growth: Edifice Rex by Rabbi Benjamin Spratt and Rabbi Joshua Stanton Read the article here.
Who’s ‘Really’ Jewish: the Sefardi Floridian, the Ashkenazi Californian, or the New York Jew By Choice? ‘Authenticity’ is a Trap | Religion Dispatches
“In mythologizing the look and sound of a ‘real’ Jew, and the feeling of the ‘real’ ritual, we diminish the depth and diversity of Judaism, and place Jewishness into narrow…
Opinion: Religion Dispatches
Who’s ‘Really’ Jewish: the Sefardi Floridian, the Ashkenazi Californian, or the New York Jew By Choice? ‘Authenticity’ is a Trap by Rabbi Ben Spratt and Rabbi Joshua Stanton. Read the…
Opinion: Close Campuses, Open Possibilities
The role of rabbis is not the same as it was in America a century ago. Our institutions should not look the same either. Now is the time for them…
Opinion: Religion News
An awakening is coming to American religion. You won’t hear about it from the pulpit: The future of American religion resides with innovative lay leaders who focus on empowerment, rather…
Opinion: Interfaith America
An Awakening is Coming to American Religion. You Won’t Hear About It From the Pulpit by Joshua Stanton and Benjamin Spratt Read the article here.
Meet Your Senior Clergy!
Rabbi Ben Spratt and Cantor Shayna De Lowe were featured on the Drinking and Drashing: Torah with a Twist podcast (Episode 219) on February 14.
Refugee Shabbat – March 2022
Written by Rabbi Benjamin H. Spratt RodNational Refugee Shabbat – March 4, 2022
Responding to the Crisis in Ukraine
Written by Rabbi Benjamin H. Spratt Responding to the Crisis in Ukraine As we look with horror and fear at the invasion of Ukraine, we bring awareness to this escalating…
A Message from Rabbi Spratt
Written by Rabbi Benjamin H. Spratt A Message from Rabbi Spratt Reform Movement Strongly Condemns Amnesty International Report February 3, 2022 Dear Rodeph Sholom Family, Jew-hate. From swastika graffiti to synagogue…
Gratitude & Conviction
Dear Rodeph Sholom Community, We begin this day with gratitude. First and foremost, our gratitude that all four hostages, including our colleague Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, are now safe after 11…
We the People
We the People A Prayer for Our Country on January 6, 2022 Written by Rabbi Benjamin H. Spratt Our nation beganWith the right, the dutyTo throw off absolute despotismTo oppose…
Gratitude in Action
A Note from your CRS Clergy Team Dear Rodeph Sholom Family, The Hebrew word for “Judaism” is Yehadut, from the root hodah – gratitude. In namesake, thanksgiving is at the root…
Remember and Reflect: Shabbat Shuvah and Commemorating 9/11
by Rabbi Ben Spratt, Senior Rabbi As we turn tonight to Shabbat Shuvah, the Sabbath of turning and returning, we hold these days of awe for reflection. This year, Shabbat…
RABBI SPRATT in THE JEWISH WEEK
For Rodeph Sholom’s New Senior Rabbi, Judaism Is a Search for Belonging “I have always been searching for my place of belonging. I do feel I have found it here,”…
Rabbi Benjamin H. Spratt
It is with great pride that we celebrate the election of Rabbi Ben Spratt as our next Senior Rabbi during the CRS Annual Meeting on May 18. Rabbi Spratt will…