Rabbi Steve Gutow Named to National Faith Council

By JTA September 30, 2015

President Barack Obama named the outgoing president of the national Jewish public policy umbrella to an advisory council on faith and government.

Obama on Sept. 24 included Rabbi Steve Gutow, a Reconstructionist rabbi who by the end of this year will step down after 10 years leading the Jewish Council on Public Affairs, among 18 members of his third Advisory Council on Faith Based and Community Partnerships.

The White House announcement noted Gutow’s involvement in his JCPA capacity in leading the Save Darfur coalition and in organizing anti-hunger Passover seders at the U.S. Capitol.

The faith advisory councils issue reports on public policy; one such report helped shape White House policy that allowed some exemptions for religious-affiliated groups from extending contraceptive coverage to staff.

The JCPA, in a statement congratulating Gutow, said the third council will address poverty.

“Steve’s work is Tikkun Olam (‘repairing the world’), and we are grateful that President Obama recognizes his passion, talent, and selflessness,” said the JCPA statement, released Sept. 25. “On every great issue of our time, Steve has been a Jewish leader with reach well beyond the Jewish community.”

Also named to the third advisory council are Aziza Hasan, a Muslim community activist who directs New Ground: Muslim Jewish Partnership for Change, and Deborah Weinstein, who directs the Coalition on Human Needs, a group that combats poverty.

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.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

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