Daniel Brenner

For the American musician, see Dan Brenner.

Daniel S. Brenner is an American rabbi.[1] Brenner is Vice President of Education at Moving Traditions.[2] Brenner was the founding executive director of Birthright Israel NEXT[3] and he directed graduate-level training programs at Auburn Theological Seminary[4] and at CLAL- the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership,[5] both in New York City. In 2009, he was named by Newsweek Magazine as one of the fifty most influential rabbis in America.[6]

Brenner graduated with a BA in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin,[7] studied in Jerusalem at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, and received both an MA and rabbinic title from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.[8]

After ordination, Brenner studied with Rabbi Irving Greenberg at CLAL-the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership as part of the Steinhardt Fellowship. Brenner served on the faculty of CLAL from 1998–2003, authoring a work on palliative care with Joseph Fins, the chief of medical ethics of Weill Cornell Medical College and a series on spirituality with Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi.[9]

In 2003, Brenner became the first rabbi to direct the Center for Multifaith Education at Auburn Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian seminary in Manhattan.[4][10] At Auburn, Brenner played a role in the creation of a doctoral program at New York Theological Seminary for clergy who work within a religiously diverse context. It is the first doctoral level program of its kind in the United States. Brenner also created a program with Columbia University's Center for the Study of Science and Religion for religious leaders. He received a Simon Rockower Award for Excellence in Jewish Journalism in 2004 for the article Talking with Presbyterians about Israel he wrote for New Jersey Jewish News.[11]

Brenner became the vice president of the Birthright Israel Foundation in 2007.[12] He then founded and became executive director of Birthright Israel NEXT, an organization with the mission of engaging young adults in Jewish community life. Under Brenner's leadership, Birthright Israel NEXT launched NEXT Shabbat[13] and grew into a national organization that involved over 50,000 young Jewish adults each year.[14]

Brenner joined Moving Traditions in 2011.[2] Brenner is a published playwright.[15] In 2012, he served as the official rabbi for The Wall Street Journal's Passover wine tasting.[16] In 2016 he started a dance craze called "Klezmer Aerobics".[17][18]

Works

  • Fins, Joseph J.; Brenner, Daniel S. (2005). Embracing Life & Facing Death: A Jewish Guide to Palliative Care. CLAL. ISBN 978-0963332905.
  • Brenner, Daniel S. (2009). "Please Don't Feed the Prophet". In Sharlet, Jeff; Manseau, Peter (eds.). Believer Beware - First Person Dispatches from the Margins of Faith. Beacon Press. pp. 98–102. ISBN 978-0-8070-7739-9.[19]
  • Brenner, Daniel (February 1, 2012). "Will Men Stand up Against the Sex Slave Trade in Israel?". The Huffington Post.
  • Brenner, Daniel (March 5, 2012). "Every Sperm is Sacred? Jewish Perspectives on Contraception". The Huffington Post.
  • Brenner, Daniel (May 12, 2011). "Rabbi Daniel Brenner on the Initiative to Ban Circumcision". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 2011-10-14.
  • Brenner, Daniel S. (September 1, 2011). "Ultimate Frisbee and the Next Generation of Jewish Men". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
  • "Boys to Men: A Thanksgiving Lesson via Esau". New Jersey Jewish News. November 17, 2011.
  • Brenner, Daniel (January 19, 2015). "Baboons, Bonobos, and Bar Mitzvah Boys, ELI Talks". www.sefaria.org.

References

  1. ^ "Fanfare for The Common Man: Rabbi Daniel Brenner sanctifies the simple gifts of Judaism & America - The Jewish Week". March 4, 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
  2. ^ a b "Our Team". www.movingtraditions.org. Moving Traditions. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  3. ^ Brenner, Daniel S. (January 3, 2010). "Birthright Israel NEXT and the Invisible Doubling Effect". ejewishphilanthropy.com.
  4. ^ a b Khouri, Lina (April 23, 2009). "Rabbi in Montclair cited as influential". The Montclair Times.
  5. ^ "CLAL Faculty". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
  6. ^ "50 Influential Rabbis". The Daily Beast. April 3, 2009. Archived from the original on August 16, 2011.
  7. ^ Hathaway ’04, Wendy Krause (February 2, 1982). "Daniel Brenner '92 | On Wisconsin".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "Reconstructionist Rabbinical College on YouTube". YouTube.[dead link‍]
  9. ^ Fins, Joseph J.; Brenner, Daniel S. (2005). Embracing Life & Facing Death: A Jewish Guide to Palliative Care. CLAL. ISBN 978-0963332905.
  10. ^ "Rabbi Daniel Brenner Speaks About Multifaith Education at RRC". www.rrc.edu. Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Archived from the original on 2013-10-06.
  11. ^ "Simon Rockower 2004 Awards for Excellence in Jewish Journalism". June 2005. Archived from the original on 2013-08-12.
  12. ^ Green, Elizabeth (October 3, 2007). "Birthright Israel Alumni Effort Seeks To Deepen Jewish Identity". The New York Sun. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021.
  13. ^ "Keeping the faith at supper time". chicagotribune.com. The Chicago Tribune. March 25, 2009.
  14. ^ "NEXT official website". Archived from the original on June 24, 2013.
  15. ^ "Daniel Brenner". www.dramaticpublishing.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-21. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
  16. ^ Teague, Lettie (March 30, 2012). "The Not-So-Cloying Side of Kosher Wine | On Wine by Lettie Teague". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  17. ^ Kaplan, Rose (February 11, 2016). "Puttin' on the Schvitz: Introducing Klezmer Aerobics!". Tablet Magazine.
  18. ^ Graeber, Laurel (August 4, 2016). "Spare Times for Children Listings for Aug. 5-11". The New York Times.
  19. ^ Schaeffer, Frank (August 6, 2009). "Believer, Beware "Gets" The Funny (And Poignant) Side of Religion". The Huffington Post.