Jonathan Krasner, Ph.D.

Jonathan Krasner is an Associate Professor at Brandeis University and one of the founders of Keshet, an organization which “works for the full equality of all LGBTQ+ Jews and [their ] families in Jewish life.” He was born on August 29th, 1966 and raised in a Modern Orthodox household in the suburbs of New York City. Krasner attended Jewish day school for his primary and secondary education. He enjoyed dramatic performance and writing for the school newspaper, but felt set apart from his peers by his pensive nature and his sense of being ‘unconventional.’ In high school, Krasner’s feelings of difference from his classmates and frustration with his parents led him to rebel against his family's Jewish ritual observance, though not against his Jewish identity more broadly.

Krasner attended Brandeis University for his undergraduate degree, majoring in American Studies. He found his niche socially in college and enjoyed working for the student newspaper. Although he came out to a few close friends, he remained mostly closeted during this time.

Krasner was not sure what he wanted to do after college and opted to spend a year in Israel participating in the Pardes Beit Midrash program. Upon returning to the United States, he decided to become a history teacher, drawn to the job’s elements of storytelling and performance. As Krasner was unlicensed and eager to work, the Jewish day schools’ lack of licensure requirements appealed to him, and he appreciated his ability to network within the sector. He got a position at a Jewish day school in the Washington, D.C. area, where he worked for a year, during which time he came into adulthood and began to come out more broadly than at Brandeis. Krasner enjoyed teaching; however, he didn’t gel with D.C. culture, leading him to move back to New York after a year. There, he continued to teach, as well as becoming involved with Jewish Activist Gays and Lesbians (JAGL). Krasner lived a bifurcated life in New York, out in some spheres but still closeted to his family.

In 1994, after four years of teaching in New York, Krasner decided it was the right time for him to enter graduate school. He received a Master’s of Education from Harvard University, originally intending to pursue a Doctorate of Education and become a school administrator. He realized, however, that he preferred historical research to educational research and decided to do a Ph.D. in American Jewish History at Brandeis. He completed his dissertation on the history of the American Jewish day school movement in 2002.

While working on his doctorate, Krasner was also exploring the Boston gay scene, through which he met both his Keshet cofounder Jared Goldfarb, and Krasner's now-husband, Frank Tipton. Krasner and Goldfarb bonded over their desire to make space for LGBTQ Jews in the Jewish community. They wanted a more advocacy-oriented alternative to the sole LGBTQ+ Jewish organization in Boston at the time, Congregation Am Tikva, as well as an environment where they could interact with more LGBTQ+ Jews their own age. They put out an ad in the gay press (The Advocate and/or New England’s Bay Windows) and quickly met several dozen people interested in their cause. Krasner and Goldfarb led Keshet from its founding in 1996 until 2001, during which time the organization was local in scope and volunteer-run. Early Keshet offered education for and advocated on behalf of LGBTQ+ Jews. They also arranged speaking engagements at synagogues and other Jewish organizations, raising awareness of LGBTQ+ Jews and emphasizing their similarity to the community at large.

Outside Keshet, Krasner and Tipton had a civil union and were married at Temple Israel in Boston in 2000; they adopted their first child in 2001. In 2002, Krasner completed his Doctorate and secured a position at Hebrew Union College’s Cincinnati campus. These changes left him without the bandwidth to continue playing a leadership role in Keshet and he stepped down in 2001, though he remains a Keshet member. He and his husband have also become advocates in the community for their two autistic children.

Krasner currently serves as the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Chair of Jewish Education Research at Brandeis’ Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education (MCSJE). His previous work includes The Benderly Boys and American Jewish Education (2011) and Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps (2020). He is currently working on a history of the American Jewish Day School movement. His research has inspired him to consolidate and preserve day school-related records for posterity, a project in which he is engaged through the MCSJE in collaboration with the Brandeis Goldfarb Library.

(This biographical statement written by Lynn Kusmin from an interview with Joseph Kranser on August 12, 2025 and from “Jonathan Krasner.” Brandeis University. https://www.brandeis.edu/mandel/about/faculty-staff/bios/krasner.html.)

Biography Date: June 2026

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