Brant Rosen is a prominent American rabbi, author, and community leader. A long-time figure in Reconstructionist Judaism, he served as a congregational rabbi for over two decades before shifting his work toward anti-Zionist activism. In 2015, he founded Tzedek Chicago, a congregation that initially identified as non-Zionist and later officially adopted anti-Zionism as a core value in 2022—making it one of the first synagogues in the U.S. to do so.
Rosen is the author of Wresting in the Daylight: A Rabbi’s Path to Palestinian Solidarity (2012), which documents his political evolution. His blog, “Shalom Rav,” has also earned wide acclaim for its keen analysis of the situation in the Middle East.
He is also a co-founder and co-chair of the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Rabbinical Council. Over the course of his activism, Rosen has led delegations to the West Bank and repeatedly participated in civil disobedience against the blockade of Gaza and West Bank settlements, resulting in multiple arrests. He advocates for a “Judaism beyond nationalism,” arguing that Jewish safety should not depend on the oppression of Palestinians and calling on Jewish communities to acknowledge the history of the Nakba.