Erica Brown is an American writer and educator who lectures on subjects of Jewish interest. She is a scholar-in-residence for the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, and a consultant to other Jewish organizations. Her "Weekly Jewish Wisdom" column has appeared in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. She currently serves as the Vice Provost for Values and Leadership at Yeshiva University and is the founding director of its Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership. Erica previously served as the director of the Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership and an associate professor of curriculum and pedagogy at The George Washington University. Erica is the author of twelve books on leadership, the Hebrew Bible and spirituality. Erica has a daily podcast, “Take Your Soul to Work.” She has written extensively on topics of Jewish spirituality and philosophy the place of religion in modernity, and on topics pertaining to the human condition at large.

Biography

Brown attended the

Frisch School The Frisch School, also known as Yeshivat Frisch , is a coeducational, Modern Orthodox, yeshiva high school located in Paramus, New Jersey. It was founded in 1972 by Rabbi Menachem Meier and Alfred Frisch. The school primarily serves the Jew ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. She graduated

Stern College The Stern College for Women (SCW) is the undergraduate Women's colleges in the United States, women's college of Liberal arts, arts and sciences of Yeshiva University. It is located at the university's Israel Henry Beren Campus in the Murray Hill, ...

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

and has master's degrees from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

and

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. She received her

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in Jewish history from Baltimore Hebrew College. Brown was a Jerusalem Fellow. She is an Avi Chai fellow, served as an adjunct professor at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

and

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

and is faculty member of the Wexner Foundation. Brown lives in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

with her husband and four children.

Books

* ''Ecclesiastes and the Search for Meaning,'' Maggid Books, a Division of

Koren Publishers Jerusalem Koren Publishers Jerusalem is an Israeli publisher of Jewish religious texts. It was established in 1961 by Eliyahu Koren, with the aim of publishing the first Hebrew Bible designed, edited, printed, and bound by Jews in nearly 500 years. It prod ...

, 2023 * ''The Book of Esther: Power, Fate and Fragility in Exile,'' Maggid Books, a Division of

, ''2020'' * ''The Book of Jonah: The Reluctant Prophet,'' Maggid Books, a Division of

, 2017 * ''Take Your Soul to Work: Daily Meditations on Every Day Leadership,'' Simon and Schuster, 2015, * ''Inspired Jewish Leadership: Practical Approaches to Building Strong Communities'', Jewish Light Publishing, trans. by Jang-Heum Ok. Seoul, Korea: Dong Yeon Press, 2016 * ''Leadership in the Wilderness: Authority & Anarchy in the Book of Numbers'', Maggid Books, a Division of

, 2013 * ''In the Narrow Places: Daily Inspiration for the Three Weeks'', Maggid Books, a Division of

, 2011 * ''Confronting Scandal: How Jews Can Respond When Jews Do Bad Things'', Jewish Lights Publishing, 2010 * ''Spiritual Boredom: Rediscovering the Wonder of Judaism'', Jewish Lights Publishing, 2009 * ''The Case for

Jewish Peoplehood Jewish peoplehood (Hebrew: עמיות יהודית, ''Amiut Yehudit'') is the conception of the awareness of the underlying unity that makes an individual a part of the Jews, Jewish people. The concept of peoplehood has a double meaning. The firs ...

: Can We Be One?'', by Erica Brown, Misha Galperin, and

Joseph Telushkin Joseph Telushkin (born 1948) is an American rabbi and writer. He has authored more than 15 books, including volumes about Jewish ethics, Jewish literacy, as well as the book ''Rebbe'', a ''New York Times'' bestseller released in June 2014. Biogr ...

, 2009 * ''Inspired Jewish Leadership: Practical Approaches to Building Strong Communities'', Jewish Lights Publishing, 2008 * ''Seder Talk: The Conversational Haggada,'' Maggid Books and OU Press, 2015.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Erica 1966 births Living people Jewish American academics Jewish biblical scholars Jewish educators Stern College for Women alumni Harvard University alumni Alumni of the University of London American University faculty George Washington University faculty Women biblical scholars 21st-century Jewish biblical scholars American Orthodox Jews Orthodox Jewish women religious leaders Jewish women writers