Yehuda Kurtzer

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Yehuda Kurtzer
Born1977 (age 46–47)
Takoma Park, Maryland, U.S.
EducationColumbia University (BA)
Brown University (MA)
Harvard University (PhD)
SpouseStephanie Ives
Children3
Parent
Websitehttps://hartman.org.il/Faculty_View.asp?Faculty_Id=160

Yehuda Kurtzer (born 1977) is President of the Shalom Hartman Institute. He has written and lectured widely on Jewish history, Jewish memory, leadership in American Jewish life, and the relationship between American Jews, Israel and Zionism. [1] In 2012, he was named one of the "36 under 36 young educators, thinkers, social justice activists, philanthropists and artists reinventing Jewish life" by The Jewish Week.[2]

Early life and education[edit]

Kurtzer was raised as a Modern Orthodox Jew in, Tel Aviv, Israel, and Silver Spring, Maryland. He is a son of U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer.[3]

He studied Religion and History at Columbia College of Columbia University as an undergraduate student and graduated in 2000.[4] He began graduate study at Brown University in early Christianity, but left that program after a year, later entering the Ph.D. program in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. He completed his doctoral degree in Jewish Studies there in 2008.[5]

Career[edit]

Kurtzer was named the first Charles R. Bronfman Visiting Chair of Jewish Communal Innovation at Brandeis University in 2008,[6] where he taught Jewish Studies as part of the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership program.[7] The position was awarded after a public competition among 231 proposals for funding to write a book that would change the way Jews think about themselves and their community, including a public symposium among the 5 finalists—Kurtzer and four more senior and at the time more prominent competitors.[8] Kurtzer's proposal became his book, "Shuva: The future of the Jewish past."[9] In 2020, Kurtzer along with Dr. Claire Sufrin co-edited The New Jewish Canon, a collection of Jewish debates and ideas from 1980–2015.

He led the creation of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America in 2010, and then became president of this organization.[10] Under his direction, the Institute has expanded to a staff of 44 employees in Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, with public programs and activities reaching over 10,000 people per year.[1] Its activities focus on leadership and educational programs for rabbis and lay leaders of the Jewish community.[11] In 2023, Kurtzer was named co-President of the Shalom Hartman Institute, sharing the role with Rabbi Donniel Hartman.

Kurtzer also hosts Identity Crisis, a podcast focused on Jewish news and ideas.[12]

He has been a scholar-in-residence and speaker in many American Jewish communities. His speaking topics have included:

  • 2013: "boundaries and belonging for contemporary Jewish life"[13]
  • 2014: "Is the Diaspora Good for the Jews?"[14]
  • "Different Values, Different Zionist Politics"[15]
  • 2017: "What Does The Jerusalem Decision Mean For U.S. Jews?"[16]
  • 2018: "The Moral, the Political and the Partisan: Jewish Community and Jewish Values in an Era of Polarization"[17]
  • 2019: "Anti-Semitism and the Jewish Collective"[18]
  • 2019: "The Israel We Imagine"[19]

Notable print publications[edit]

  • Kurtzer, Yehuda (2012). Shuva: The Future of the Jewish Past. Brandeis University Press. hdl:10192/31473.
  • Kurtzer, Yehuda (January 22, 2018). "The Biggest Threat To The Jews? The Partisan Divide". The Forward.
  • Kurtzer, Yehuda (May 30, 2018). "At Home In That Other Promised Land: Does Zionism ask too much of the American Jewish community?". The New York Jewish Week.
  • Kurtzer, Yehuda (September 6, 2018). "The Deep Sources of a Great Divide". The New Republic.
  • Kurtzer, Yehuda; Sufrin, Claire (July 2020). The New Jewish Canon., a finalist for the 2020 National Jewish Book Award.[20]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Lipman, Steve. "Can Yehuda Kurtzer's Doctrine Of Pluralism Heal The Divides In The Jewish Community?". jewishweek.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  2. ^ "36 Under 36 2012". jewishweek.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  3. ^ "Yehuda Kurtzer, Elevating the conversation". jewishweek.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  4. ^ "Bookshelf". Columbia College Today. Winter 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  5. ^ "Profile: Yehuda Kurtzer" (PDF). Center for Jewish Studies, Harvard University Newsletter. XIX: 10. Winter 2008.
  6. ^ "Yehuda Kurtzer awarded Bronfman Visiting Chair in Jewish Communal Innovation". BrandeisNOW. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  7. ^ "educators - Yehuda Kurtzer | The Bronfman Fellowship". www.bronfman.org. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  8. ^ "Five finalists in Bronfman Visiting Chair in Jewish Communal Innovation contest". BrandeisNOW. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  9. ^ Lipman, Steve. "Next Big Thing: Back To The Future". jewishweek.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  10. ^ "Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer". Z3 Project. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  11. ^ "Shalom Hartman Institute of North America receives record grants totaling $20 million". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  12. ^ "Identity/Crisis Podcast". Shalom Hartman Institute. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  13. ^ "Board of Rabbis | Yehuda Kurtzer: Joining Judaism". www.boardofrabbis.org. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  14. ^ "Transcript: Is the Diaspora Good for the Jews?" (PDF). The Brookings Institution. November 18, 2014.
  15. ^ "Different Values, Different Zionist Politics". Hadassah, The Women's Zionist Org of America. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  16. ^ "What Does The Jerusalem Decision Mean For U.S. Jews?". NPR. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  17. ^ "Visiting Scholar – Yehuda Kurtzer". www.templeemanuel.com. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  18. ^ "Anti-Semitism and the Jewish Collective". Oshman Family JCC. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  19. ^ "The Israel We Imagine with Yehuda Kurtzer | Elmad Online Learning Torah Podcasts, Online Jewish Learning". 2019-03-10. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  20. ^ "2020 National Jewish Book Award Winners, Jewish Book Council". www.jewishbookcouncil.org. 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
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