Rabbi Nate Crane is the Rabbi of Beth Hillel Bnai Emunah, and in 2020, he was appointed to serve on the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS), the governing body determining Jewish law and practice for the Conservative movement as a whole.
Rabbi Crane follows a tradition of Beth Hillel Bnai Emunah rabbinical predecessors who served on the CJLS, including Rabbi Dr. Reuven Hammer, z”l, and Rabbi David H. Lincoln. Rabbi Crane has the tremendous honor of filling Rabbi Hammer’s seat on the Committee.
Rabbi Crane is the author of the teshuvah (responsum) “Adoption,” approved by a unanimous vote of the CJLS. This responsum explores the halakhic status of people who have been adopted, including the parental and filial obligations involved, and offers a Jewish ritual and accompanying documents to celebrate and mark adoption. In 2020, he co-authored the CJLS’ COVID-19 Guidance for Kol Nidrei with Rabbi Pamela Barmash, CJLS co-chair.
The Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago’s Young Leadership Division named Rabbi Crane to its 2020 Chicago’s Jewish 36 Under 36 List, recognizing “Chicago’s outstanding Jewish young adults making a difference.”
Rabbi Crane sits on the Board of the Anti-Defamation League’s Midwest Region and the Rabbinic Advisory Committee of Yatom: The Jewish Foster and Adoption Network. He is the recipient of the NewCAJE Young Professional Fellowship, the PJ Library Grant from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, and the Start Me Up! Fellowship and Grant from Phoenix’s Valley Beit Midrash.
Prior to joining BHBE, he served as a Rabbi at Congregation B’nai Tikvah in Deerfield, IL, and most recently as a Rabbi at Congregation Or Tzion, in Scottsdale, AZ. While at Congregation Or Tzion, Rabbi Crane founded the nonprofit Hagigah: Dedicated to Providing Accessible, Engaging, and Fun Jewish Holiday Celebrations for Families With Special Needs, which has since been absorbed into Phoenix’s largest Jewish organization that supports individuals with special needs, Gesher Disability Resources. Rabbi Crane earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from American Jewish University in his hometown of Los Angeles, CA, and a master’s degree in rabbinic studies and Ordination from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies.
He is blessed to have married his college sweetheart Rachel, and together they are the proud parents of two daughters, Isla and Ellie.