Toba Spitzer

Toba Spitzer is an American rabbi, writer, and activist. She is the first openly lesbian or gay rabbi to head a rabbinical organization in the United States.

Early life and education Toba Spitzer is a native of Chevy Chase, Maryland, and grew up in a non-observant Jewish family. However, as a child her family attended a havurah in the D.C. area. Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., she realized she wanted her activism to be anchored in religion and in 1992 enrolled in the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. However, when Spitzer's class graduated in 1997, three "out" rabbis including two lesbians and one gay man, were hired by congregations that had been through a workshop series created by the Reconstructionist movement designed to help congregations be welcoming to gay and lesbian rabbis. By 2024, the synagogue had grown to approximately 260 households.

In 2007, she was elected to a two-year term as president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, becoming the first openly gay rabbi to lead any national rabbinical association. She was also included on the Forward lists Forward 50 (2007) and 50 Female Rabbis Who Are Making A Difference (2010).

For Spitzer, her rabbinate is an extension of her commitment to peace and justice. In 2015, she received the "Elizabeth Wyner Mark Peace Award" from Americans for Peace Now, and in 2024 was honored with the "Rabbinic Human Rights Hero Award" from Truah.

Spitzer has written essays and sermons, some of which are on the Reconstructing Judaism and Congregation Dorshei Tzedek websites. She is the author of the book God Is Here: Reimagining the Divine (2022). After being contacted by literary agents starting in 2007 who had read her sermons online and thought there was potential for a book, she met with them in 2011 and realized they wanted her to write a book about God. God is Here aims to make the divine accessible through metaphors from nature, such as water, fire, and rock. It emphasizes practical spiritual practices and a re-envisioned language for God, in order to nourish and guide individuals on their spiritual journeys. By blending personal narratives with insights from Jewish tradition and contemporary sources, it seeks to provide multiple pathways to experience and connect with the divine.