Rabbi Nancy H. Wiener, DMin is Clinical Director of the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Center for Pastoral Counseling at the New York School of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She was named the Dr. Paul and Trudy Steinberg Distinguished Professor in Human Relations in 2012. She also serves as the rabbinic program’s Fieldwork Coordinator. Rabbi Wiener was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1990, where she received an MA in Hebrew Letters in 1988. She earned a Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Counseling from HUC-JIR in 1994. Dr. Wiener is a board certified chaplain with the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and holds a certificate in Pastoral Counseling from the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health, New York. She earned an MA in History from Columbia University and her BA magna cum laude in 1980 from Brandeis University. She is the author of Beyond Breaking the Glass: A Spiritual Guide to Your Jewish Wedding, Revised Edition that was published by CCAR Press in 2012.
Rabbi Wiener helped draft the resolution passed by the CCAR on officiation at ceremonies for Gay and Lesbian couples, created materials for CCAR members to use for pre-marital counseling and same-sex ceremonies, and helped draft the CCAR’s first official statement regarding transgender Jews. She served on the UAHC (predecessor to the URJ) Gay and Lesbian Inclusion Committee, URJ Departments of Jewish Family Concerns and Outreach and Inclusion committees, as well as a range of UJA/Federation Task Forces. She is a partner of the Kalsman Institute on Judaism and Health and was one of 18 selected nationally by the National Center for Jewish Healing to be SeRaF (senior research fellows) Fellow. She has taught at national and international conferences.
Dr. Wiener sits on the national board of T’ruah: The Jewish Call for Human Rights and the rabbinic council of Jewish for Racial and Economic Justice in New York City.
