RABBINIC PERSPECTIVES: CONVERSATIONS FOR OUR TIMES
Presented by Rabbi Fred Reiner
Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Sinai Washington, DC; Adjunct Professor, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC
A Summary of Core Values in a New Administration
In the early days of the Trump administration, many new values were articulated that challenged core Jewish values. As many in the American Jewish community were challenged, and unsure how to respond, Rabbi Fred Reiner recognized that the time was right to articulate what we believed as American Jews, based on our sacred texts, core values, and history.
We will study Reiner’s document, which began as a simple statement, in the tradition of Jewish belief statements in Europe and the United States. A small number of Washington-area retired rabbis discussed and endorsed the statement, then circulated it to a wide range of Jewish clergy across the country, and beyond. Ultimately over 600 rabbis and cantors signed the statement, which was released and shared among congregations and communities.
Join us as Rabbi Reiner reflects on the origins of this statement, the Jewish sources that underpin it, and the role of Jewish values in shaping communal response to the challenges of our time.
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Rabbi Fred Reiner was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California-Berkeley, where he was a campus leader following the Free Speech Movement. In 1973, he was ordained and received a Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters degree from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati in 1973. He received a Doctor of Divinity degree from HUC-JIR in 1998.
Rabbi Fred N. Reiner is Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Sinai, Washington, DC. He served as senior rabbi from 1985 through June 2010.
Rabbi Reiner served as president of the Washington Board of Rabbis (2000-02) and as president of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR). He served on the Board of Trustees of the national CCAR and on the Washington Advisory Council of Avodah. He has served on the faculty of the Howard University Divinity School under the sponsorship of the Jewish Chautauqua Society.
We extend a special thank you to Andrew R. Ammerman for sponsoring our 2026 program lineup. He dedicates the semester’s learning in loving memory of Josephine and H. Max Ammerman and Stephen C.