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Year in Review

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In 2018-19, we expanded our ability to serve as a central address for influential Jewish leaders and educators who grapple with the major challenges facing Israeli society and Jewish life.

This year, we:

Developed new ideas, frameworks and programming based on Jewish tradition to address the most pressing issues today >>

  • Nationalism and Democratic Values – Addressing the tension between liberal democracy and a resurgent global nationalism

  • The Israel-Diaspora Gap – Modeling frameworks for a new partnership between Israel and world Jewry 

  • Jewish Identity and Values - Ensuring our community leaders have the  conceptual tools to advance a values-based discourse at this critical moment in Israel and North America    

Invested in training and supporting the next generation of inspiring thought leaders and community leaders >>

  • We launched the next phase of growth of SHI North America, the result of an extensive business and strategic planning process fueled by the entrepreneurial philanthropic support of the Koret and Jim Joseph Foundations. We are expanding and deepening the work of the Kogod Research and David Hartman Centers in North America, building a national educational infrastructure through regional hubs and online learning and launching new programs to generate ideas and reach new audiences.

  • We grew the David Hartman Center for Intellectual Leadership, now home to some of the most promising emerging scholars in Israel and North America, who will generate and communicate the inspiring ideas that Judaism needs to thrive.

  • We expanded the Beit Midrash for Israeli Rabbis with the launch of a larger cohort that will reshape the Israeli public sphere to reflect and respect the religious diversity of the Jewish people.

Reached key new change agents  through new and extensive collaborations >>

  • We cooperated with the Israeli Ministry of Education to train Bible studies teachers to improve Bible instruction in secular Israeli schools, making it meaningful and relevant for students and placing it at the core of Israeli-Jewish identity discourse.

  • We partnered with the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and the William Davidson Foundation to work with Jewish leaders in Washington. D.C., and Detroit to ensure that their communities remain animated by a Judaism of purpose and meaning.

  • We expanded our collaboration with UJA – Federation of New York to improve Israel education in North American day school and camp communities.

  • We launched a series of lay leadership seminars in Israel to sharpen leaders’ Jewish-Israeli identity and ability to advance a values-based discourse as the foundation for a pluralistic society united around core ideas.

Strengthened our alumni networks to reach critical mass for meaningful, sustainable change in North American communities and Israeli society >>

  • We supported alumni of our Campus programs, including Hevruta graduates, as they continue to develop a values-based framework for understanding and discussing Israel and the relationship between Israeli and North American Jewry.

  • The Israeli Rabbis alumni initiative provides resources, support, and guidance to ordained Israeli Rabbis who are leading communities, initiating programs, serving as public intellectuals, and teaching in institutes of Jewish and higher learning to encourage a more pluralistic Israeli society.

  • The Min HaBe’erot alumni network strengthens ties among Jewish and Arab Israeli educators and provides ongoing enrichment and resources to empower lasting change in schools and communities. 

  • Muslim Leadership Initiative alumni network broadens participants’ understanding of issues affecting Jews in Israel and North America and encourages them to build relationships with Jewish communities.

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