Rabbi Robert Kravitz says he never actually planned to be a rabbi. One day, he was a Connecticut-born college student studying radio, TV, and film at Syracuse University; the next he was driving to Cincinnati where he conducted Shabbat services, studied voice, and accepted a three-year cantorial position at a nearby Conservative synagogue.

It became clear it was a calling. Over the next 50 years, his rabbinical journey took him through several careers, from civil rights leader, to hospital and police chaplain Jewish community spokesman, humanitarian, columnist, and of course, congregational rabbi.

Rabbi Kravitz has touched lives not just in the Jewish community, but as a forward-thinking leader in multicultural settings, from chairman of the Arizona Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil Rights Holiday Committee, to coordinator of the Hispanic-Jewish Coalition, and founding member of the Arizona InterFaith Network. His is a voice of reason, as he does his part in repairing the world.

Original air date: June 19, 2025.

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