By Ellen Braunstein
Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss, Ph.D., a Reform rabbi, biblical scholar and educator who helped shape generations of Jewish clergy through her work at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and who made her home for decades in the Philadelphia area, died on March 3 at her home in Lower Merion after a yearlong battle with cancer. She was 60.
As provost of Hebrew Union College, the Reform movement’s seminary, Weiss became the first woman to ordain rabbis in the movement — a milestone colleagues said reflected both her scholarship and her commitment to developing the next generation of Jewish leaders.
Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, told Philadelphia Jewish Exponent in an interview that Weiss was “a transformative provost and a historic figure at a time of tremendous change.”
“It was her resilient leadership as we faced an extraordinary number of institutional challenges,” Rehfeld said. “Through it all, she led with perseverance and with Jewish values always in sight.”
Born on Sept. 9, 1965, Weiss grew up in San Diego, where her family belonged to Temple Emanu-El. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1987, and was ordained as a rabbi at Hebrew Union College in 1993.
Soon afterward she came to the Philadelphia area to pursue doctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania, enrolling in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. She received her Ph.D. there in 2004, focusing her research on metaphor and biblical poetry.
The move to Philadelphia shaped both her academic career and her family life. After initially living in the city’s Fairmount neighborhood, she and her husband later settled in Lower Merion, where their two children were raised.
Her professional career soon became closely tied to Hebrew Union College, the Reform movement’s seminary for rabbis and other Jewish leaders. Weiss joined the faculty in 2000, teaching courses such as “The Poetry and Power of the Psalms” and “Literary Artistry of the Bible.”
Colleagues said her teaching emphasized careful reading of Hebrew texts and the literary richness of biblical language.
“She trained rabbis and cantors to take the text seriously and to embrace Hebrew as the language of the Jewish people,” Rehfeld said.
Her scholarship also reached beyond the classroom. Weiss was co-editor of “The Torah: A Women’s Commentary,” published in 2008, a groundbreaking volume of Torah commentary written entirely by female scholars. The book received the American Jewish Book Award in 2011 and has been widely used in synagogues and study groups.
Her husband, Alan Tauber, said the project reflected Weiss’ broader commitment to expanding the voices represented in Jewish learning.
“The book was entirely comprised of commentary from women,” Tauber said. “It brought those voices to the forefront of interpreting the Torah.”
In 2018, Weiss was appointed provost of Hebrew Union College, where she oversaw academic programs across the seminary.
She also helped launch a virtual rabbinical program designed to allow second-career students who could not relocate to a campus to pursue ordination.
“She fundamentally changed the curriculum,” Rehfeld said. “It places text study at the center and integrates learning with action — what I like to call applied Jewish wisdom.”
Her tenure also coincided with several difficult moments for the institution and the wider Jewish community. Weiss began the role shortly after the death of Hebrew Union College president Rabbi Aaron Panken in a 2018 plane crash. In the years that followed, she helped guide the seminary through the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic and other institutional challenges.
Yet colleagues said she maintained a steady focus on the seminary’s core mission: preparing clergy and leaders for Jewish communities.
“Perhaps the way she will be most known is standing before the ark and ordaining new rabbis,” Rehfeld said. “To see this petite but powerful figure pass on the tradition from one generation of rabbis to the next was deeply inspiring.”
Through decades of teaching and mentoring, Weiss helped shape the thinking of rabbis who now lead congregations across the United States and internationally.
Her daughter, Rebecca Tauber, said the scope of that influence has become especially clear in the days following her mother’s death.
“She taught nearly every Reform rabbi to come out of Hebrew Union College for decades,” Tauber said. “Those rabbis are now leading communities across the country and around the world.”
While Weiss’ professional work had global reach, her family life was firmly rooted in the Philadelphia area. Weekly Shabbat dinners were a central tradition in the family’s Lower Merion home, often with students, colleagues or newcomers joining the table.
“There would frequently be guests at the table,” Rebecca Tauber said. “She was always welcoming people into our home.”
Weiss also maintained deep ties to Congregation Beth Am Israel in Penn Valley, where she and her family were longtime members.
“She found a home there,” Alan Tauber said. “It became a beloved community for her.”
At the synagogue she taught Torah study sessions, served on the board and participated in two rabbinic search committees. She also regularly delivered a teaching on Yom Kippur afternoon.
For Weiss, Jewish learning was meant to guide engagement with the wider world. That conviction led her to create an interfaith public scholarship initiative titled “American Values, Religious Voices,” which brought together scholars from multiple faith traditions to write letters exploring the relationship between religious teachings and democratic values.
“She felt called to do it,” Alan Tauber said. “It was a huge undertaking that she organized on her own because she believed religious traditions had something important to say about civic life.”
Despite her accomplishments, those closest to Weiss said she approached leadership with humility.
“She loved mentoring students and helping them grow into leaders,” Tauber said. “Underneath everything else, she was fundamentally a teacher.”
Ellen Braunstein is a freelance writer.