Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum is Senior Rabbi Emerita and former spiritual leader of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in New York City for thirty-two years. She has actively campaigned for human rights and civil marriage for gay couples, and is now the Director of The Beacon, a multifaith project of the Union Theological Seminary that brings together people of all faiths and secular backgrounds who feel called to stand with those facing injustice.

She built a rabbinate on her lifelong passions for Jewish study, history and prayer, text and tradition; on her love for music and literature; on her feminism and her commitment to LGBTQ liberation; and on her determination to erase the bifurcation of spirituality and social justice.

In her 32 years at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, she not only made that vision a reality, she made it a stunning success. Rabbi Kleinbaum’s name has appeared multiple years on Newsweek’s list of the 50 most influential rabbis in America.

She was appointed by President Joseph Biden to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Rabbi Kleinbaum has served as a Commissioner on New York City’s Commission on Human Rights and has been a member of Mayor Bill de Blasio and Eric Adam’s Faith-Based Advisory Council and serves on the Executive Committees of Governor Hochul’s Office of Faith and Non-Profit Development Services and the New York State Interfaith Council (NYSIC).