Interfaith Alliance President Rabbi Jack Moline Announces Plan for Retirement

A longtime leader in the fight for religious freedom, Rabbi Moline will step down in the first half of 2022.

Rabbi Jack Moline announced today that he will step down as president of Interfaith Alliance, a national organization dedicated to protecting the integrity of both religion and democracy in America, in the first half of 2022. Interfaith Alliance’s Board of Directors has already launched a national search for Rabbi Moline’s successor who will inherit an organization strongly positioned to take on challenges to the historic understanding of religious freedom.

Since assuming the helm of the organization in January of 2015, Rabbi Moline has bolstered Interfaith Alliance’s reputation as a leader in the fight for an inclusive vision of religious freedom. As the first non-Christian leader of the organization, he built resilient connections across diverse communities of all faiths and none.

He was an early and outspoken critic of the Trump administration’s travel ban targeting the Muslim community, and remained vocal against the president’s efforts to weaponize faith for political purposes. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he was an integral faith voice in support of commonsense public health measures. When the Biden administration took office, he brought together diverse voices united in their belief of an inclusive vision of religious freedom through The American Purpose web series. And in the effort to combat discrimination at all levels, he expanded the organization’s capacity to effect change through policy, legal channels, and grassroots activism.

“The world has shifted in ways we could have never imagined when I began my tenure at Interfaith Alliance seven years ago,” said Rabbi Moline. “The attacks on religious freedom have been unrelenting, and Interfaith Alliance has been steadfast in resisting those efforts. As I prepare to retire, my commitment to the mission of this organization and the work we do remains undiminished. I know that my successor will inherit an organization positioned to continue protecting faith and freedom for all Americans.”

Before joining the professional staff of Interfaith Alliance, Rabbi Moline was a long-time member of its board of directors including serving as its chair from 2006 until 2008. In addition, he served as the Rabbi of Agudas Achim Congregation in Alexandria, Virginia for 27 years and now holds the title of Rabbi Emeritus. He is an adjunct faculty member of the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Virginia Theological Seminary, educating future leaders in the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faith communities. He is also a member of Rabbis Without Borders and serves on the advisory boards of Clergy Beyond Borders and Operation Understanding DC.

“Jack has been an exceptional leader of Interfaith Alliance and we are a better organization for having his leadership,” said Jacob Worenklein, board chair of Interfaith Alliance. “He has been a powerful advocate who has never wavered in the fight for religious freedom for every American regardless of their faith or belief.”

A native of Chicago, Rabbi Moline is a graduate of Northwestern University and studied to become a rabbi at the University of Judaism (now the American Jewish University) in Los Angeles and the Jewish Theological Seminary’s (JTS) Jerusalem and New York campuses. Ordained in 1982, he received an honorary doctorate from JTS in 2012. He became full-time rabbi and part-time Jewish chaplain at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut upon ordination.

Prior to joining Interfaith Alliance, he served as chair of the Interfaith Relations Committee of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, vice president of the Washington-Baltimore Rabbinical Assembly and board member of the Faith and Politics Institute. He has served as president of the Washington Board of Rabbis and is past chair of the Alexandria Interfaith Association. He also served as the first director of public policy for the Rabbinical Assembly.