WASHINGTON (RNS) Rabbi Jack Moline, a congregational rabbi who briefly led the nation’s top Jewish Democratic group, is the new head of the Interfaith Alliance, a staunch voice in Washington for the separation of church and state and other progressive causes.
Moline is the fourth leader and the first non-Christian to head the 20-year-old alliance, which represents more than 75 faith traditions and secularists, too.
–
Moline was ordained in the Conservative stream of Judaism, which sits between the liberal Reform and the traditional Orthodox movements in its interpretation of Jewish law. He has advised many in higher office, including former President Clinton, on questions of policy as well as personal matters.
Moline ruffled some feathers while at the NJDC, criticizing two major Jewish groups — the American Jewish Committee and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — which, he said, applied too much pressure to congressional Democrats to oppose President Obama’s strategy on Iran. He also said the Democratic Party had not done enough to mobilize Jewish voters in key states, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported.
