Part of the series JTS Alumni in the World: Scholarship and Impact 

With Rabbi Aaron Brusso (Kekst Graduate School ’01 and Rabbinical School ’00), Rabbi of Bet Torah, Mt. Kisco, NY

In the 1970s and 80s there was a Jewish communal attempt to dissuade Jews from entering into relationships with a partner from a different background. These efforts played themselves out as policies, programs and messaging. Like many organizational structures and leadership approaches of the time, the program was hierarchical and authority based. Since then the landscape has shifted significantly as identity formation and rabbinic authority play out differently than they did 50 years ago. Together we will think about the the impact and limits of disapproval policies, the purpose and meaning of the Jewish wedding ceremony and how to shift the conversation to a pastoral and relational one with a couple. A conversation that transfers responsibility for these questions from the community back to the couple, empowering them to articulate their identities and authenticities and determine their relationship to the narratives, rituals, symbols and faith statements of Jewish tradition.

Aaron Brusso has been rabbi at Bet Torah in Mt Kisco, NY, for the past 15 years. He is treasurer of the Rabbinical Assembly and recently chaired a committee to evaluate the professional organization’s 50-year prohibition on officiation at interfaith weddings. He is a member of the JTS Chancellor’s Rabbinic Cabinet and a 2020 recipient of T’ruah’s Human Rights Hero award for his work on immigration. He has written for JTA, The Forward, and Slate and been featured in the Washington Post. He is a 2000 graduate of the JTS Rabbinical School and received a master’s degree in Jewish philosophy from the Kekst Graduate School. 

ABOUT THE SERIES

Join esteemed JTS alumni to hear about the important contributions they are making through their work as scholars and thought leaders in their fields. Through their engagement with Jewish text, history, and thought, they are enhancing the spiritual and personal lives of individuals, building more inclusive communities, and preparing the leaders of tomorrow, ensuring a stronger Jewish future.