Meet Our Rabbi
Brant Rosen | he/him
Tikkun Magazine editor Rabbi Michael Lerner says Rabbi Brant Rosen is "at once a courageous rabbi and the voice of a new generation of American Jews who are refusing to allow the right-wing voices of the Jewish world to define Judaism."
Journalist Ben Ehrenreich says he "combines great compassion, rigorous intellectual engagement, and an unfailing sense of justice."
Jewish scholar and theologian Marc Ellis says “Rabbi Rosen has become known in some circles as a ‘Rebel Rabbi.’ His reputation is well deserved.”
At Tzedek Chicago, we call him our rabbi and friend.
A native of Los Angeles, Rabbi Brant was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1992 and served congregations in Los Angeles and Denver before coming to the Chicago area in 1998 to serve as rabbi of Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation (JRC).
During the course of his rabbinate, Rabbi Brant became an increasingly vocal activist for justice and human rights, particularly in Israel/Palestine. After publicly wrestling with his relationship to Israel and openly questioning his lifelong Zionism, he eventually became a prominent Jewish presence in the Palestine solidarity movement, co-founding the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council and Ta'anit Tzedek - Jewish Fast for Gaza.
In 2014, he left JRC to become the Midwest Regional Director of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). Shortly after, Rabbi Brant and several other kindred spirits founded Tzedek Chicago. Through his leadership, our congregation quickly grew to the point that by 2019, he became our full-time rabbi.
Rabbi Brant's writings have appeared in many journals and publications, including Newsweek, the Chicago Tribune, the Jewish Forward, Tikkun and Truthout. He is also the author of the popular Jewish social justice blog, Shalom Rav; his curated collection of blog posts and reader comments, Wrestling in the Daylight: A Rabbi’s Path to Palestinian Solidarity was published by Just World Books in 2012 (updated in 2017).
Rabbi Brant has contributed essays to a number of anthologies including "Zionism and the Quest for Peace in the Holy Land," "On Antisemitism: Solidarity and the Struggle for Justice," and "Reclaiming Judaism from Zionism: Stories of Personal Transformation." He is also a prolific poet and liturgist whose prayers and poems can be found on his blog Yedid Nefesh. In 2018, Tzedek Chicago published his chapbook of prayers, "Songs After the Revolution: New Jewish Liturgy." In 2020, he was named as a Topol Fellow in Conflict and Peace in the Religion, Conflict and Public Life Institute at Harvard Divinity School.
Rabbi Brant and his life-partner Hallie live in Evanston with their two endlessly curious cats Woody and Gussie. Their two adult sons Gabe and Jonah live in Chicago.
Click here to read Rabbi Brant's inaugural Rosh Hashanah sermon for Tzedek Chicago.