Richard Jacobs (rabbi)

Richard J. Jacobs
Born	1956 New Rochelle, New York, United States
Occupation	Rabbi
Organization	Union for Reform Judaism
Spouse(s)	Susan K. Freedman

Richard "Rick" (Reuben Jacob) Jacobs is a Reform rabbi and the president of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), the congregational arm of the Reform movement in North America which represents an estimated 1.5 million Reform Jews in nearly 900 synagogues across the United States and Canada. Before being installed as URJ president in June 2012, Jacobs was senior rabbi at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, New York, where he served for nearly two decades.

Jacobs was among a group of American Reform rabbis that called for “urgent change” in the Reform movement. He focuses on environmentalism, social justice and liberal Zionism alongside traditional worship. He has served on the boards of several Jewish organizations, including the World Union for Progressive Judaism, American Jewish World Service and the New Israel Fund.

He is listed as number six in The Daily Beast and Newsweek’s list of “America’s Top 50 Rabbis for 2013” and holds position 26 on the Jerusalem Post’s 2012 list of “50 most influential Jews in the world.”

A native of New Rochelle, New York, who grew up in Tustin, California where his parents had a retail furniture business, Jacobs was ordained as rabbi in 1982 by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York where he had also earned his M.A. in Hebrew Literature in 1980. In the same year, he joined Avodah Dance Ensemble, a modern dance company which performs services in dance and concerts throughout the United States. He remained with the company until 1986 as dancer and choreographer, working as part-time rabbi in order to continue performing after being ordained.

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