Saperstein succeeded Rabbi Richard G. Hirsch as leader of the Washington D.C.–based social justice and lobbying arm of the North American
Reform movement. There, he advocated on a broad range of
social justice issues. He directed a staff who provided extensive legislative and programmatic materials to synagogues,
federations and
Jewish Community Relations Councils nationwide, coordinating social action education programs that train nearly 3,000 Jewish adults, youth, rabbinic and lay leaders each year. On August 28, 2008, Saperstein delivered the invocation at the
Democratic National Convention's final session, before Senator
Barack Obama accepted the party's nomination for president. In February 2009, he was named to President Barack Obama's
Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. In 2009
Newsweek named him No. 1 on its list of "50 Influential Rabbis." In 2009, he received the IRLA/NARLA/Liberty Award from the International Religious Liberty Association. in
London on October 19, 2016. On July 28, 2014, President Obama nominated Saperstein to be the first non-Christian to hold the post of
United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. In December 2014 Saperstein's appointment to the post won U.S. Senate confirmation. He succeeded
Suzan Johnson Cook in this position. He has co-chaired the Coalition to Preserve Religious Liberty, and served on the boards of the
NAACP,
Common Cause, and
People For the American Way. In 1999, Saperstein was elected as the first Chair of the congressionally-created
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Saperstein is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where he taught courses on church-state law and on
Jewish law for 35 years. On October 11, 2018, Saperstein received the
International Religious Liberty Award "for his many years of work defending and supporting freedom of religion or belief for all".
Cole Durham, Director of the
International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) presented the award. Saperstein is married to four-time
Peabody Award winning journalist
Ellen Weiss. They are the parents of musician
Daniel Saperstein and journalist Ari Saperstein. His brother is Jewish historian and rabbi Marc Saperstein. == See also ==