Yehuda Kurtzer (born 1977) is president of the

Shalom Hartman Institute Shalom Hartman Institute is a Jewish research and education institute based in Jerusalem, that offers pluralistic Jewish thought and education to scholars, rabbis, educators, and Jewish community leaders in Israel and North America. The institu ...

. He has written and lectured widely on

Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their Jewish peoplehood, nation, Judaism, religion, and Jewish culture, culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Jews originated from the Israelites and H ...

, Jewish memory, leadership in American Jewish life, and the relationship between

American Jews American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% id ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

. 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 ''New York Jewish Week'' (formerly ''The Jewish Week'') is a weekly independent community newspaper targeted towards the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. History In March 2016, ''The Jewish Week'' announced its partners ...

''.

Early life and education

Kurtzer was raised as a

Modern Orthodox Jew Modern Orthodox Judaism (also Modern Orthodox or Modern Orthodoxy) is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law with the modern world. Modern Orthodoxy draws on several teach ...

Tel Aviv, Israel Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

and

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

. He is a son of U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer. He studied religion and history at Columbia College of

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

as an undergraduate student and graduated in 2000. He began graduate study at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

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 Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. He completed his doctoral degree in Jewish Studies there in 2008.

Career

Kurtzer was named the first Charles R. Bronfman Visiting Chair of Jewish Communal Innovation at

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

in 2008, where he taught Jewish Studies as part of a Jewish professional leadership program. The position was awarded after Kurtzer won a public competition for funding to write a book that would "change the way Jews think about themselves and their community." Kurtzer's proposal became his book, "Shuva: The future of the Jewish past." 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. Under his direction, the organization has expanded to a staff of 28 employees in Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, with public programs and activities reaching over 10,000 people per year. Its activities focus on leadership and educational programs for rabbis and lay leaders of the Jewish community. In 2023, Kurtzer was named co-President of the Shalom Hartman Institute, sharing the role with Rabbi

Donniel Hartman Donniel Hartman (; born October 13, 1958) is an Israeli Modern Orthodox rabbi and author. He is President of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Biography Hartman was born in New York to Barbara and David Hartman. When he was 13 years ol ...

. Kurtzer also hosts ''Identity Crisis'', a podcast focused on Jewish news and ideas. He has been a scholar-in-residence and speaker in many American Jewish communities on topics including contemporary Jewish life, Zionism and partisanship.

Books

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurtzer, Yehuda 1977 births Living people 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Academics from Maryland American male non-fiction writers American Modern Orthodox Jews American Zionists Brandeis University faculty Brown University alumni Columbia College (New York) alumni Harvard University alumni Jewish American academics Jewish American non-fiction writers Writers on Zionism