[1] Toba Spitzer is a native of Chevy Chase, Maryland and grew up in a non-observant Jewish family.
[2] She studied at Harvard University graduating in 1986, and then spent a year in Jaffa, Israel working for Friendship's Way, an after-school program for Jewish and Arab students.
[4][5] Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., she realized she wanted her activism to be anchored in religion and in 1992 enrolled in the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.
[1] She praised her denomination for its courage and tolerance[3] and believed this appointment contributed to her being named one of the 50 most influential rabbis in the United States by Newsweek in 2007 and 2008.
[16] Spitzer has written essays and sermons, some of which are on the Reconstructing Judaism and Congregation Dorshei Tzedek websites.
[21][22] By blending personal narratives with insights from Jewish tradition and contemporary sources, it seeks to provide multiple pathways to experience and connect with the divine.