It is with deep sadness that we inform you of the passing of Rabbi Andrea Weiss z”l, pioneer Jewish scholar and leader, on March 3, 2026 at the age of 60.

The Jewish world lost a brilliant and transformative leader this past week and we lost a teacher, mentor and friend. Rabbi Weiss served for more than two decades as a professor of Bible, and later provost, of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, the seminary where each of us were ordained and where our School Principal, Jen Jaffe, will receive her Master’s in Jewish Education this coming May.

We wanted to share a few personal reflections about Rabbi Weiss and this obituary written by Haley Cohen.

Rabbi Carey Brown: Rabbi Andrea Weiss was one of my beloved teachers at HUC in New York. She was among the wave of young scholars, many of them women, who had just begun to teach at the college in that era whose work transformed a generation of rabbis, cantors, and educators. She was an amazing teacher of Bible, particularly opening my eyes to the depth and beauty of the language of the prophets of Israel. She continued to be a mentor to me and so many others throughout my career.

Cantor Shani Cohen: I was honoured to be ordained by Rabbi Andrea Weiss in 2021. It meant so much for me to be ordained by a woman, and by Rabbi Weiss in particular. Even just learning from her as a guest lecturer in a few of my HUC classes, I was inspired by her intellect, passion for teaching, and groundbreaking work as one of the editors of the Women’s Torah Commentary.

We will recite Rabbi Weiss’ name at Temple Sholom during this period of shloshim and encourage our community to study any one of her many articles and teachings in honour of her remarkable contributions to Jewish life and scholarship.

May her memory be for a blessing, and her teachings live on in her students.