Seth Limmer

Seth M. Limmer, Rabbi, DHL he/him/his, serves as Director of Public Affairs for PERIL, overseeing the public-facing side of the lab, our work in strategic communications, government relations, and policy guidance. Seth also serves as CEO of the newly-launched Community Advisory Research and Education foundations, which advances the work of the lab as we scaled our evidence-based interventions as widely as possible.

Prior to joining PERIL, Seth founded Repair Consulting, which works with philanthropists and philanthropies to increase their impact in building a world of justice and peace. For over two decades, he served as Senior Rabbi of Chicago Sinai Congregation and Congregation B’nai Yisrael of Armonk, NY. He holds a BA in Philosophy from Cornell University (95), received his Doctoral in Hebrew Literature (2009)from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in the field of Rabbinic Hermeneutics, and in 2025 was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, by HUC-JIR.

Seth is passionate about the work of justice, was appointed and elected to the highest levels of leadership in the Reform Movement with the CCAR and Religious Action Center, sits on the Illinois State Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes, and was a founding member of both Westchester United (an IAF Affiliate in New York) and RAC-IL (which organizes the Reform Jewish Community in his home state). He helped lead a campaign to ensure the passage of a positive trailer bill for Illinois’ signature criminal justice reform bill, the SAFE-T Act, and is a frequent presence in Chicago City Hall where he advocates with faith leaders for pragmatic and proven gun violence prevention policy.

Rabbi Limmer is the author of many articles and essays, frequently appearing in the pages of the Chicago Tribune, where he shares a monthly column on matters of social justice with Christian Faith Leaders. 2016 saw the publication of his Medieval Midrash: The House for Inspired Innovation. Rabbi Limmer also served as co-editor of Moral Resistance and Spiritual Authority, published by CCAR Press in 2018.