Michael A. Meyer '59

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A new book by Michael A. Meyer '59, "Above All, We Are Jews: A Biography of Rabbi Alexander Schindler," has been published by CCAR Press, a division of the Central Conference of American Rabbis,

Meyer is the Adolph S. Ochs Professor of Jewish History Emeritus at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, and is also the recipient of three National Jewish Book Awards. This volume includes a foreword by Jonathan D. Sarna, the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University, and an afterword by Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ).

Rabbi Alexander Schindler, best known as serving as the president of the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations (today’s URJ) from 1973 to 1996, remains a "gadol hador," a giant of his generation. During his tenure as a leader of the American Reform Jewish Movement, he raised Reform Judaism to unprecedented influence. He was a powerful voice for civil rights, women’s rights, and LGBTQ+ inclusion and equality. His pioneering work on outreach remains one of the beacons of Reform Judaism. Yet his charisma and vision spread well beyond the Reform Movement. He served an extended term as the president of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and was connected to American presidents and Israeli prime ministers. He was able to champion Israel while maintaining diaspora Jews’ right to speak out independently on the Jewish State.