April 15, 2026 GROW April: Dispatch from Jerusalem: “Leading an Israeli Organization at a Time of Crisis”

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Join us online for our next Tamid of Hebrew College free GROW program on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, when Rabbi Dan Judson and Rabbi Leon Morris will speak about “Leading an Israeli Organization at a Time of Crisis”

About the Program

Join Hebrew College Provost, Rabbi Dan Judson in conversation with Rabbi Leon Morris, President of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, as they discuss the experience of leading an Israeli organization at a time of crisis. The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies is an institution dedicated to the study of traditional Jewish sources from an open and pluralist perspective. In addition to sharing insights from an institutional perspective, Rabbi Morris will share his perspective on life in Jerusalem and the role of pluralistic Jewish learning in Israeli society. Rabbi Judson and Rabbi Morris will also discuss Rabbi Morris’ recent essay In Search of and In Need of Knesset Yisrael where he argues for a “unified vision of Jewish identity that bridges faithfulness, history, and Jewish life as a shared spiritual enterprise.”

GROW is Tamid of Hebrew College’s free, monthly adult learning program, offering an hour with us to Gather, Reflect, Observe, and Wrestle with topics that will deepen your Jewish learning.

Featured speakerS

Rabbi Dan Judson, Ph.D. serves as the Provost of Hebrew College in Newton, MA where is also a lecturer in Jewish history. Rabbi Judson received his doctorate in Jewish history at Brandeis University and his book, Pennies for Heaven: The History of American Synagogues and Money (University of Chicago Press, 2018) was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. He is presently working on a book about American Zionist history, When America Became Zionist: The Lodge-Fish Resolution of 1922 and the Surprising Group of Politicians who Changed American Policy Towards Israel. His research and writing on new models of synagogue finance have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Haaretz, Reform Judaism magazine and many other Jewish publications.

Rabbi Leon Morris is the President of Pardes and is the first alumnus to head the institution (Year Program alumnus ’94-’95; Summer Program alumnus ’93 and ’94). Leon made aliyah with his wife Dasee Berkowitz (Pardes Year Program alumna ’94-’95) and their three children in June 2014, after serving as the rabbi of Temple Adas Israel in Sag Harbor, NY. He was the founding director of the Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning at Temple Emanu-El (now the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center) in Manhattan. Before coming to Pardes, Leon served as a Vice President for Israel Programs at the Shalom Hartman Institute and was a faculty member at Hebrew Union College.

Ordained from Hebrew Union College in 1997, he has worked extensively with the Jewish community of India, beginning in 1990 when he served as a Jewish Service Corps volunteer for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. He was also a Mandel Jerusalem Fellow. Leon has taught at Orthodox, Conservative and Reform institutions and is a regular contributor to the Jewish, US and Israeli press. He is an editor of the new Reform High Holy Day machzor, Mishkan HaNefesh and is a contributor to Jewish Theology in Our Time: A New Generation Explores the Foundations and Future of Jewish Belief (edited by Elliot Cosgrove, Jewish Lights, 2010).

SPONSOR A GROW SESSION

Invest in the power of education. Be a part of a meaningful commitment to Jewish leadership and a commitment to perpetuating the Jewish story by sponsoring a GROW session at HC with your gift of $360. Your sponsorship dedication will be shared at the start of the first class. Please contact [email protected]. Thank you!