Stephen Pearce, senior rabbi at San Francisco’s Congregation Emanu-El, is one of the nation’s 50 most influential rabbis, according to a list released annually by Newsweek. Pearce was placed at No. 34 in 2011; in 2009, he was No. 32. The list seeks to recognize Jewish innovators for their impact on both Judaism and their communities at large.
Last year, Pearce became vice chair of Rabbis for Women of the Wall, a network of rabbis supporting the women who continue to pray at the Western Wall on Rosh Chodesh, despite harassment and efforts to ban their prayer services.
Before coming to San Francisco, Pearce was a faculty member at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City, and he also taught at the University of San Francisco, the University of Connecticut, and St. John’s University, where he earned his doctorate in counselor psychology. He also is the past president of the Northern California Board of Rabbis.