Thought Leadership

Bringing a Torah lens to the world, and a Torah voice to our Leadership—in thought and in action.

Our life as Jews is about more than halakha, in the narrow sense of observance of technical details. It is about halikhah—a walking, a path, a way of being in the world, a walking that is infused with life and energy, and a path the helps us navigate the world and that points us in a meaningful direction. For Ramban, this obligation—to be more than merely observant, and to be also religious—is expressed in the Torah’s mandates of Vi’halakhta bi’drakhav, “You shall walk in God’s ways,” Vi’asita ha’yashar vi’haTov, “You shall do what it is upright and good,” and Kedoshim ti’hiyu, “You shall be holy.”

We, our students and our musmachim, strive to understand what is the truest fulfilment of these Torah mandates in today’s world, and to be guided and driven by them in our leadership on the ground and in our public voice in the Jewish world and beyond.  Core Torah values that guide us speak to our obligations towards Torah and mitzvot; self and others; Community and Klal Yirsael; Israel; and the world.

Three areas that we have focused on in particular in recent years are Climate Change, Disabilities, and LGBTQ+. We strive to raise public awareness of these urgent issues by launching a range of communal initiatives.

The Torah that we learn must always be in conversation with the world that we live in, and if these conversations are not happening on their own, then we must be the ones to begin them. Learning brings about teaching, and teaching brings about action.

We invite you to read, explore, and engage in the op-eds, articles, Torah and halakha that have been part of the leadership that we have striven to bring to these urgent and enduring issues.