Rabbi David Saperstein, senior advisor to the Union for Reform Judaism and director emeritus of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement: “Today. we mourn the passing of Al Vorspan, former senior vice president of the Union for Reform Judaism and director emeritus of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism, who died Feb. 16, at age 95. Al Vorspan…was one of the ‘great ones’ of Jewish social justice work.

“Vorspan was a leading Jewish voice during the civil rights movement, in opposition to the Vietnam War, and for Soviet Jewry relocation efforts…Al Vorspan was, to many, the personification of reform Judaism’s social justice efforts.”