The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC) is a left-of-center advocacy nonprofit organization that focuses on political issues such as abortion, immigration, and gun control. RAC’s work is commissioned by its two sister organizations, Union for Reform Judaism and the Central Conference for American Rabbis. It has affiliate organizations in states such as Florida, New York, California, Texas, and Ohio. ¹

Jonah Dov Pesner, the director, has been involved with left-of-center political campaigns and organizations such as the NAACP. ²

Activities

In December 2022, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism released a statement that opposed U.S. Representative Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) pledge to strip Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) of her position as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee based on accusations that she engaged in antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric if he were elected Speaker of the House. RAC accused Rep. McCarthy and his top deputies of “rampant promotion of antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories amid a surge of dangerous right-wing antisemitism.” This statement was written alongside organizations like the New Israel Fund, ³ a nonprofit that provides grants to support left-of-center social goals related to Israel. ⁴

In January 2023, RAC signed a letter along with more than 100 Jewish organizations that was sent to Elon Musk, strongly urging him to deal with what the letter called “the proliferation of hate speech on Twitter, including antisemitism.” ⁵ This letter stated a concern with Musk’s own posts, claiming that his alleged posts of a Nazi soldier and a meme called Pepe the Frog suggested that he is sympathetic to white supremacists. ⁶

RAC runs events about legislative action, policy action, and social issues. Some of these events include award shows and seminars. ⁷ It organized for 10 teenagers to participate in the Bernard and Audre Rapoport L’Taken Social Justice Seminar, where they met politicians and discussed left-of-center issues. ⁸

RAC is one of the approximately 250 members of the Declaration for American Democracy, ⁹ a coalition of left-of-center activist groups that promotes regulations on campaign speech and enacting automatic voter registration, among other left-of-center election-administration policies. ¹⁰

RAC has expressed support for S.40 and H.R 40, both introduced in January 2023, which call for the creation for a “Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans.” ¹¹ Such a commission would be responsible for, “recommending appropriate ways to educate the public and provide remedies.” ¹² The group further claimed that, “more than four centuries of entrenched racial oppression continues to impact every part of American society…one of the clearest ways to address entrenched racial discrimination is through the study and development of reparations proposals.” ¹³

On January 24, 2024, RAC released a statement criticizing the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) decision on a case made against Israel by South Africa, which accused the former of violating international law and committing genocide during its war against Hamas in Gaza. The ICJ did not call for a ceasefire but urged Israel to “take all measures” to prevent death in its military actions. The war in Gaza comes following the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, 2023 in which 1200 Israelis were killed by terrorists while taking over 240 people as hostages. ¹⁴ RAC’s response expressed their support for Israel while stating, “The war Israel is currently engaged in is against Hamas, not the Palestinian people. ¹⁵

On January 30, 2024, RAC released a statement from the Reform Movement Institutions with several strategies it claimed would help lead to peace between Israel and Palestine following the Israeli-Hamas war. Strategies proposed include preserving the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, addressing settler violence against Palestinians, and “halting the construction of West Bank settlements and rejecting any Jewish resettlement in Gaza.” ¹⁶

People

Jonah Dov Pesner is the director of RAC. He has held this position since 2015 and has been the senior vice president of the Union for Reform Judaism since 2011. In 2006, he founded a left-of-center social policy organization called Just Congregations that was later incorporated into RAC. He has led and supported left-of-center political campaigns about issues such as immigration, LGBT interests, race, and health care. He is on the board of organizations such as the NAACP. ¹⁷

1. “About the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.” Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Last modified November 1, 2013. https://rac.org/about-religious-action-center-reform-judaism.
2. “Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner.” Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Last modified January 13, 2015. https://rac.org/about-religious-action-center-reform-judaism/leadership-and-staff/rabbi-jonah-pesner-biography.
3. “Jewish American Groups Oppose Kevin McCarthy’s Threats to Strip Democratic Lawmakers of Committee Assignments.” J Street. Last modified December 12, 2022. https://jstreet.org/press-releases/jewish-american-groups-oppose-kevin-mccarthys-threats-to-strip-democratic-lawmakers-of-committee-assignments/#.Y9sBNOzMKUt.
4. “FAQs.” New Israel Fund. Accessed February 12, 2023. https://www.nif.org/about/faqs/.
5. Kovac, Adam. “100+ Jewish Groups Sign Onto Open Letter to Elon Musk on Twitter Antisemitism.” The Forward. Last modified January 31, 2023. https://forward.com/fast-forward/534131/jewish-open-letter-elon-musk-twitter-antisemitism/.
6. “Elon Musk Letter.” Google Docs. Accessed February 13, 2023. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TiFKL07Ry0spmMjipcGhURjUulZoRDgg/edit.
7. “Events & Awards.” Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Last modified November 1, 2013. https://rac.org/about-rac/events-awards.
8. “Kol Ami Teens Head to DC for Seminar.” Jewish Community Voice – Published by the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey. Last modified February 8, 2023. https://www.jewishvoicesnj.org/articles/kol-ami-teens-head-to-dc-for-seminar/.
9. “Declaration for American Democracy.” Declaration for American Democracy. Last modified October 20, 2022. https://dfadcoalition.org/.
10. “About.” Declaration for American Democracy. Last modified September 20, 2021. https://dfadcoalition.org/about/.
11. “Support the Study and Development of Reparations for Enslavement and Systemic Racism.” Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Accessed February 14, 2024. https://www.votervoice.net/URJ/campaigns/97892/respond
12. “Support the Study and Development of Reparations for Enslavement and Systemic Racism.” Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Accessed February 14, 2024. https://www.votervoice.net/URJ/campaigns/97892/respond
13. “Support the Study and Development of Reparations for Enslavement and Systemic Racism.” Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Accessed February 14, 2024. https://www.votervoice.net/URJ/campaigns/97892/respond
15. “Reform Movement Responds to International Court of Justice Ruling on Israel-Hamas War.” Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, January 24, 2024. https://urj.org/press-room/reform-movement-responds-international-court-justice-ruling-israel-hamas-war?_gl=1*qjqyps*_ga*ODA3ODM5OS4xNzA3ODYzMzI0*_ga_6WX143SJW5*MTcwNzg2MzMyMy4xLjEuMTcwNzg2MzM0Ny4zNi4wLjA
16. “The Moment We Are In, The Future We Pray For.” Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, January 30, 2024. https://rac.org/press-room/moment-we-are-future-we-pray
17. “Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner.” Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Last modified January 13, 2015. https://rac.org/about-religious-action-center-reform-judaism/leadership-and-staff/rabbi-jonah-pesner-biography.