Rabbi Reuven Kimelman is a Professor of Classical Judaica at Brandeis University and Scholar-in-Residence of the JCC on the Palisades. Previously, Professor Kimelman held the position of Five College Professor of Judaic Studies at Amherst College and Senior Scholar of CLAL. He has also taught at Mt. Holyoke, Smith, Trinity and Williams Colleges as well as the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His Ph.D. is from Yale University in Religious Studies. Professor Kimelman has published widely in journals of scholarly and popular interest on bible, history, ethics, liturgy, and current affairs. He is the author of the Hebrew book, The Mystical Meaning of Lekhah Dodi and Kabbalat Shabbat, he is also engaged in writing a book on the Meaning and History of Jewish Prayer and one on Terrorism, War, Democracy and other issues in the Jewish Ethics of Power.

Dr. Kimelman lectures frequently at academic conferences, synagogues and national Jewish organizations, he has served as scholar-in-residence for many groups including the former UJA Young Leadership Cabinet, The Wexner Heritage Foundation, The JCCA Biennial Conference, and the General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities.