Rabbi Seth M. Limmer

Rabbi Seth M. Limmer, DHL, is the Director of Public Affairs for PERIL, the Polarization & Extremism Research and Innovation Lab, based at American University. He is also the founder of RePair Consulting, working with both Not-for-Profits and Philanthropists to advance efforts for justice and peace. During his rabbinate he has served as chair of the Justice, Peace & Civil Liberties of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, as vice-chair of the URJ’s Commission on Social Action, as adjunct professor at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and Vice President of Leadership of the CCAR. On behalf of his lead role in organizing the Reform Movement’s participation in the NAACP’s 2015 America’s Journey for Justice, Rabbi Limmer accepted the Rabbi Maurice Eisendrath Bearer of Light Award, the highest honor of the URJ. Author of many articles, 2016 saw the publication of his first full-length bookMedieval Midrash: The House for Inspired Innovation.  Rabbi Limmer also served as co-editor of Moral Resistance and Spiritual Authority, published by CCAR Press in 2018.  Author of many articles and essays, his recent “Trapped in Translation” published in Tablet Magazine was highlighted in the magazine’s special “End of the Year” issue as the featured article on contemporary religious thought. In 2021, Rabbi Limmer was appointed to serve on the Illinois State Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes, and co-authors a regular column in the Chicago Tribune on matters of Social Justice with Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain, Father Michael Pfleger, and Rev. Otis Moss III.  Rabbi Limmer has served as Senior Rabbi of Chicago Sinai Congregation and Congregation B’nai Yisrael of Armonk, NY.