Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz

President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and Aaron and Marjorie Ziegelman Presidential Professor
215.576.0800, ext. 141
dehrenkrantz@rrc.edu

Named one of the 50 most-influential American rabbis by Newsweek magazine for five consecutive years, Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz became the fifth president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) in 2002. He currently is leading a strategic restructuring process that will produce in Reconstructionist Judaism a unique organization, encompassing both seminary and congregational services. He is the first RRC graduate to assume leadership of the College. Ehrenkrantz came to RRC after 14 years as rabbi of Bnai Keshet, a Reconstructionist congregation in Montclair, NJ. There he received national attention in The Washington Post for his work in helping to foster interfaith understanding as a member of the Montclair Clergy Association.

Since arriving at RRC, Ehrenkrantz has launched a $50 million fundraising campaign—the organization’s largest ever; completed RRC’s first strategic plan; energized a grants program that has raised over $2.5 million for interfaith initiatives, alumni education and work in the areas of social justice, aging and gender studies; and completed a rebranding effort that included the launch of a new website, www.rrc.edu. At Bnai Keshet, from 1988 to 2002, he led a successful capital campaign and oversaw the ensuing purchase of the congregation’s first building—a project that entailed preserving a historic mansion and constructing a new facility. During his tenure, the congregation doubled in size.

As RRC’s Aaron and Marjorie Ziegelman Presidential Professor, Ehrenkrantz has taught courses on Jewish and Hebrew literature, darshanut (text interpretation), the Jewish holiday cycle, and the Jewish lifecycle. He has written rabbinical commentary for Dream of Zion: American Jews Reflect on Why Israel Matters to Them (Jewish Lights), the Men’s Torah Commentary (Jewish Lights), The Guide to Jewish Practice (RRC Press) and the Kol Haneshama prayer book series (Reconstructionist Press). His writings have also appeared in The Jerusalem Report, New York’s Jewish Week, the Charlotte Observer, the Hartford Courant, The Huffington Post, and Contact and Child magazines.

He graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Arts in religion and received both rabbinic ordination and a Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters from RRC. He lives in the Philadelphia area with his family.

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