Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso

Rabbi of Congregation Beth-El Zedeck, Indianapolis since 1977. Rabbi Sasso is active in the arts, civic and interfaith communities and has written and lectured on women and spirituality and the discovery of the religious imagination in children. Rabbi Sasso received her B.A. Magna Cum Laude and M.A. from Temple University. She was ordained from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1974 and received her Doctor of Divinity after 25 years in the rabbinate. She is the recipient of a Doctorate of Ministry from Christian Theological Seminary, an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from DePauw University, an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Butler University and an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Christian Theological Seminary. Rabbi Sasso is the author of the nationally acclaimed children's books:

God's Paintbrush, In God’s Name, But God Remembered: Stories of Women from Creation to the Promised Land, Noah’s Wife: The Story of Na’amah, God In Between, For Heaven’s Sake, God’s Paintbrush: A Celebration Kit, God Said Amen, Cain and Abel: Finding the Fruits of Peace, Adam and Eve’s First Sunset, Abuelita’s Secret Matzahs, Butterflies Under Our Hats.

She is also co-editor of Nurturing Child and Adolescent Spirituality: Perspectives from the World’s Religious Traditions and editor of Urban Tapestry, Indianapolis Stories.

Her newest book is God's Echo: Exploring Scripture with Midrash.

Rabbi Sasso serves as the chairperson of Spirit and Place, an annual festival in Indiana celebrating the Arts, Religion and Humanities. Rabbi Sasso has served on numerous boards in the civic and Jewish communities. She has been President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, the Indianapolis Board of Rabbis and Gleaners Food Bank. Rabbi Sasso presently serves on the Board of Advisors of Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, the Board of the Indianapolis Children’s Choir, and the International Journal of Children’s Spirituality Board. She is co-chair of the Indianapolis Interfaith Clergy Group and a member of the Lake Family Institute Advisory Board. She is on the Rabbinic Advisory Committee for the Jewish Fund for Justice.

Rabbi Sasso has been honored as one of the "Influential Women in Indiana" by the Indianapolis Business Journal and was featured among "Indy’s Most Influential Clergy" by NUVO News Weekly. She is the recipient of the "Sagamore of the Wabash", the highest civilian honor awarded by the Governor of the State of Indiana.

Rabbi Sasso was the first woman ordained from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and the first to serve a Conservative congregation together with her husband, Rabbi Dennis C. Sasso. Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso and her husband are the first practicing rabbinical couple in world Jewish history. They are the parents of two children, David and Debora. Contact Rabbi Sasso by email at ssasso@bez613.org.