Montclair Rabbi, Activist Hailed As ‘Human Rights Hero’

MONTCLAIR, NJ — A religious leader and longtime community activist in Montclair has been named a “Rabbinic Human Rights Hero” for his exceptional social justice advocacy.

T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights recently honored Rabbi Elliott Tepperman of Bnai Keshet in Montclair with its 2019 Rabbinic Human Rights Hero Award. It was presented to Tepperman for his efforts on a variety of social justice issues, including LGBTQ rights, working to reduce gun violence and defending the rights of immigrants and refugees, including Muslims affected by the travel ban.

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“Rabbi Tepperman is a true Rabbinic Human Rights Hero,” said Rabbi Jill Jacobs, T’ruah’s executive director. “Warm, inspiring and tireless, he is a role model for all clergy who take seriously our responsibility to make the world a better, more just place. His impact can be felt not just among the countless Bnai Keshet members who, under his leadership, have mobilized to defend the rights of immigrants and other vulnerable people, but in the broader community.”

According to a news release from T’ruah:

“Tepperman has been the spiritual leader of Bnai Keshet, a Reconstructionist congregation, since 2002. His rabbinate embraces spiritually courageous Judaism and loving pursuit of shalom and justice for all people. He believes that Jewish practice is most transformational when deep internal work becomes a springboard for building community and engaging with the world. And likewise when we bring the profound and mundane challenges of our personal and public lives to bear on our Jewish study and worship… Tepperman is a founding member of the IAF-affiliated New Jersey Together. He is currently organizing to build the sanctuary movement in New Jersey with Faith in New Jersey (PICO). He has worked with Bend the Arc teaching Congregation Based Community Organizing at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and other seminaries. He was a member of Bend The Arc's 13th Selah cohort. He is a past President of the Montclair Clergy Association and he is currently serving on the Executive Committee of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association as First Vice President. He is married to Sarah O’Leary and is the proud father of Akiva-Lev and Sam.”

“In the great tradition of Heschel, Prinz, and the prophets, Elliott Tepperman is a rabbinic leader who enters the public arena with great love and inspires all those around him,” said one of the rabbi’s congregants in his nomination letter.

“Through word and deed, [Tepperman] has created a community of doers who model his behavior,” another congregant wrote. “On an individual level, he has influenced us to become our best selves.”

Every year, T’ruah selects two Jewish clergy members who are exceptional social justice advocates and leaders for its Rabbinic Human Rights Hero Award. This year’s second Rabbinic Human Rights Hero is Rabbi Jocee Hudson of Temple Israel of Hollywood in California.

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