Sharon Brous’s personal quest for a meaningful Jewish life led her to found IKAR, a community blending innovative spirituality and strong social justice values to reengage disaffected Jews. While studying at Columbia University, Brous fell in love with the progressive synagogue B’nai Jeshurun in New York and entered the Jewish Theological Seminary. After her ordination in 2001, she moved to Los Angeles, where she co-founded IKAR in 2004. Regularly honored as one of the Forward 50 and Newsweek/The Daily Beast’s 50 most influential rabbis, she offered a prayer at President Obama’s inaugural service in 2013. Passionate about changing synagogue culture and Jewish life, she serves on the faculty of the think tank REBOOT and of Hebrew Union College, as well as the international council of the New Israel Fund and the rabbinic advisory council of the American Jewish World Service, while continuing to lead IKAR. In 2016 IKAR joined six other experimental Jewish communities across the country to form the Jewish Emergent Network.