Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Rabbis 2014

Rabbi Debra Orenstein

I am 26 years old. I am not Orthodox. I go to shul. In some ways, I believe these three statements alone should be enough to convince you how amazing this rabbi is. How is she amazing? Let me count (just a few of) the ways: Rabbi Orenstein tries to connect the parshah to situations in modern life to which each person can relate. The congregation holds “theme Shabbats”; I have attended the Sinatra Shabbat. (Unfortunately, I was not yet aware of this amazing community when they had the Beatles Shabbat!) She also writes on topics important to the Jewish community, such as the Jewish lifecycle for women. She is available for her congregants. She is exactly what you want and expect from a rabbi: She is progressive while valuing tradition.

— Kerry Salkin and seven others

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.