Author Rabbi Michael Strassfeld encourages us to reorganize our thinking about—and reengage our lives with—Judaism.

Rabbi Michael Strassfeld has served the Jewish community for over five decades, in numerous capacities, including as an educator, writer, editor, rabbi, and community leader.

He is the author of Judaism Disrupted, which is being published on the 50th anniversary of his breakthrough best-seller that sold over 300,000 copies, The Jewish Catalog. 

Rabbi Strassfeld, the son of a Modern Orthodox rabbi,  was ordained as a rabbi over 30 years ago by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He served as rabbi for a decade at Congregation Ansche Chesed and for 14 years as Rabbi for The Society for the Advancement of Judaism.

For nearly 20 years he was the leader of High Holiday services at Congregation Ansche Chesed. He also was their director of programming and development for four years, and their executive director for three years.

He served as a member of the faculty of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality for 15 years, the executive director of the Jewish Counter culture Oral History Project for three years, and the founding chairperson of the National Havurah Committee for three years. He also was a founding vice-president of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School, a board member of Beyond Shelter, a coalition of Manhattan synagogues concerned with homelessness, and a founding chairperson of Learning, a young adult education brochure of seven Manhattan synagogues.

He has had articles published by Tikkun Magazine, Shma, Hadassah, CLAL, Response Magazine, and other publications. He also edited the Second and Third Jewish Catalogs (1975,1979), authored The Jewish Holidays (1985), co-authored A Night of Questions: A Passover Haggadah (1999), and authored A Book of Life: Embracing Judaism as a Spiritual Practice (2002). He recorded Songs to Open the Heart: Contemplative Niggunim (2003). He also edits a free weekly newsletter about Judaism, available on his website michaelstrassfeld.com.

Rabbi Michael Strassfeld: Disrupting Judaism

Host Joshua Holo speaks with HUC-JIR educator, Michal Muszkat-Barkan, Ph.D. about her experiences on the ground in Jerusalem during the Israel-Hamas War.

Michal Muszkat-Barkan, Ph.D., is a Professor of Jewish Education in the Parallel Track. She is the Director of the Department of Education and Professional Development at HUC-JIR/Jerusalem. Her fields of research include teachers’ professional development, teacher ideologies, multicultural teacher training, and pluralism in Jewish education.

She heads the Rikma M.A. program specializing in Community and Pluralistic Jewish Education, in collaboration with the Melton Center for Jewish Education, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She spearheaded and is the academic head of the Teachers’ Lounge, in memory of Shira Banki, a professional development program for Arab and Jewish teachers.

HUC Connect: Inside Israel with Michal Muszkat-Barkan

Host Joshua Holo speaks with HUC-JIR educator, Michael Marmur about his experiences on the ground in Jerusalem during the Israel-Hamas War.

Michael Marmur is Associate Professor of Jewish Theology at HUC-JIR/Jerusalem. Until July 2018 he served as the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Provost at HUC-JIR, having previously been Dean of the Jerusalem campus. After some 20 years in administrative capacities, he now concentrates his energies on teaching and writing. 

Born and raised in England, Rabbi Marmur completed a B.A. Degree in Modern History at the University of Oxford before moving to Israel in 1984. While studying for an M.A. in Ancient Jewish History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he completed his studies in the Israel Rabbinic Program of HUC-JIR in Jerusalem, and was ordained in 1992. For six years following his ordination, he worked as rabbi and teacher at the Leo Baeck Education Center in Haifa. He has been an employee of HUC-JIR since 1997. 

Michael Marmur served for three years as Chair of the Board of Rabbis for Human Rights, and is still a member of its Board. He has lectured and taught courses in several countries around the world.

HUC Connect: Inside Israel with Michael Marmur

Host Joshua Holo speaks with HUC-JIR educator, Jeremy Leigh about his experiences on the ground in Jerusalem during the Israel-Hamas War.

Jeremy Leigh teaches Israel Studies and Modern Jewish History at HUC-JIR’s Taube Family Campus in Jerusalem. He is the coordinator of the Richard J. Scheuer Israel Seminar for the Year-In-Israel Program, as well as director of the HUC-JIR-JDC Fellowship for Global Jewish Responsibility. He leads the Year-In-Israel Program’s program in Lithuania and coordinates the annual professional development program in the Former Soviet Union. 

Prior to coming to HUC-JIR, Leigh taught Ethnography of Israeli Society through Cinema at the Rothberg International School of the Hebrew University. In addition to teaching at various academic institutions in Jerusalem, he is the director of Jewish Journeys, a long standing initiative to develop and advance the field of global Jewish travel.

Leigh studied at University College of London and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has written extensively about the field of Jewish educational travel, including his last book, Jewish Journeys: Reflections on Jewish Travel (Haus, London 2006).

Leigh was born in London, England and moved to Israel in 1992.

HUC Connect: Inside Israel with Jeremy Leigh

Reform Judaism’s pioneering decision to mandate study in Jerusalem.

“My Heart Is in the East, though I Be in the Very West”

John Inazu dissects disagreement to find opportunities for social trust, faith and democratic flourishing.

John Inazu: Transforming Disagreement: from Threat to Exercise of Democracy

Rabbi Yonatan Neril frames the ecological crisis in spiritual terms.

Rabbi Yonatan Neril: We’ve Got the Whole World in Our Hands

Julia Watts-Belser reveals disability as an engine for human creativity and spiritual depth - for everyone.

Julia Watts-Belser: Around Us and In Us

Jeremy Brown’s Eleventh Plague captures Jewish responses to pandemics from across the millennia.

Jeremy Brown, MD: Pestilence, Plague and Perseverance

Author Mari Lowe explores adolescence through the lens of the Orthodox experience – both unique and common to all.

Mari Lowe: Growing up is tough business

The College Commons Podcast, passionate perspectives from Judaism's leading thinkers, is produced by Hebrew Union College, America's first Jewish institution of higher learning.

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