Rabbi Noam Marans

Rabbi Noam E. Marans is AJC's associate director for Interreligious and Intergroup Relations and Contemporary Jewish Life. In his interfaith work, Rabbi Marans develops and strengthens relationships with a wide variety of religious and ethnic groups to further mutual understanding and interreligious dialogue. His initiatives have served as models for interfaith education and community engagement.

In 2009-2010, Rabbi Marans broke ground with his efforts to engage the leadership of the Oberammergau Passion Play in an ongoing process that addresses the lingering anti-Jewish elements of the German drama. As AJC's associate director for Contemporary Jewish Life, Rabbi Marans facilitates educational programs, seminars, and public forums devoted to addressing pressing issues in American Jewish life. He is a co-founder of the Kehillah Partnership, an organization that has been recognized by the Covenant Foundation for its successes in remaking Jewish community through innovation and resource-sharing.

Before joining AJC, Rabbi Marans served as the rabbi of Temple Israel in Ridgewood, New Jersey. During his sixteen-year tenure there, he established interfaith Holocaust education and awareness programs, bridged knowledge gaps between Christian and Jewish communities, and led multifaith coalitions to address the challenges of poverty, hunger, homelessness, racism, and substance abuse.

Rabbi Marans is a past president of the Bergen County Board of Rabbis and has held faculty and administrative positions at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS). He was ordained by JTS and received his B.A. from Columbia University. Rabbi Marans has been awarded numerous honors, including the Martin Luther King Civic Leadership Award. His writings have been published widely, including in The New York Times, The Forward, and The Jerusalem Post.