Aryeh Bernstein's Page
Profile Information
- How did you hear about KolDor?
- Friend of Tova Serkin; other friends attended past conferences.
- Right now I live
- Jerusalem
- Languages I Know
- English, Hebrew
- About Me:
- I live in Talpiyot, Jerusalem, and am interested in Torah, language, government, social justice, and jurisprudence based on value assessment and cost-benefit analysis. I am not particularly interested in identity, leadership, or community, per se, but only in the content (value commitments) which they mask.
- Professionally I....
- I am the Director of Recruitment for Yeshivat Hadar, in NY (www.yeshivathadar.org), North America's first egalitarian yeshivah. I am also Assistant Director of the affiliated Halakhah Think Tank (www.halakhah.org). I have taught on the Talmud faculty of the Hartman High School for boys, in Jerusalem. I am a co-founder and faculty member of the Northwoods Kollel and Beit Midrash Program at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, where I have also served as Staff Educator. I have been published in The Jerusalem Report, and have taught at numerous communities and Hillels around the U.S.
- I am involved with the following Jewish organizations/institutions/projects:
- *Mechon Hadar (www.mechonhadar.org), including Yeshivat Hadar and the Halakhah Think Tank.
*Hartman High School for boys, Jerusalem
*Camp Ramah in Wisconsin: Northwoods Kollel and Beit Midrash Program
- In the past I have been involved with the following Jewish organizations/institutions/projects:
- Yeshivat Maale Gilboa (student, 2000-2007)
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (student, 1999-2000)
Yeshivat Hamivtar (student, 1995, 1998-99)
The Jewish Theological Seminary (B.A. '98, Talmud and Rabbinics)
Columbia University Jewish Students Union
Iggrot Ha-Ari (Columbia's student journal of Jewish scholarship -- founding Co-Editor-in-Chief)
Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University (M.A. candidate, Talmudic Studies)
MeORoT fellowship ('99-'00)
Kehilat Hadar (High Holiday Service Leader, 2000-)
Congregation Ramath Orah, NY
Kehillat Orah Eliezer, NY
Lights in Action
Student Action to Free Agunot
USY/Nativ
- Other ways in which I am an activist/leader in the Jewish community
- Well, I don't really take "leadership" seriously as a concept. All I can attest to is what my value commitments are and what I do with them. I talk and do stuff; if anyone finds anything useful in that, I guess I've been a "leader" to that person, for whatever it's worth.
- What do you think about Jewish Peoplehood?
- I don't think about it much.
I don't think it's worth a whole lot independent of specific value commitments. If we generate a healthy and robust culture of Jewish value commitments and an open transfer of ideas about those commitments, peoplehood will take care of itself.
- What are the Jewish (or other) values/issues about which you are most passionate?
- I spend a lot of time working on the generals and specifics of redeeming Torah from the hands of its fundamentalist captors and opening up its availability to the good people hungry for it. Central to this is promotion of Halakhah as a language to guide responsible Jewish decision-making (and not a nostalgic refuge or the limitation on our reason and morality, God forbid). I'm really into learning and practice that are rationalistic and accessible, grounded in historical perspective, sensitive to consequences, and aware of the relationships between stories and law.
Social justice issues I agitate about include ending the suicidal Israeli occupation, international humanitarian involvement as a critical Jewish issue, healthy and sustainable eating, and fair treatment of workers. Intellectual honesty and transparency are huge issues for me; I find dishonesty cowardly and a huge aveirah (sin) and I think that many mainstream Jewish and Israeli organizations routinely violate it. I'm also really into replacing the concept of leadership with that of skill application. Charismatic leadership almost always ends poorly.
- What are you looking for in the KolDor network?
- Cross-pollination of information, ideas, and creativity useful to doing good Jewish project building.
- Website:
- http://www.mechonhadar.org
- Facebook Profile URL
- http://www.facebook.com/friends/?mutual&id=108543#/profile.php?...
- In My Spare Time I Like to:
- Listen to music and a lot of it. These days, mainly rap, soul, funk, and bluegrass.
Write spoken word poetry/rap and occasionally perform it.
Host open mic parties.
Read great fiction and legal theory.
Picking interesting people's brains and listening to them talk.
Trading Beastie Boys quotations with my brother on each other's Facebook walls.
I like to have just gone swimming or done yoga, though I don't particularly enjoy the activities themselves.
Eating delicious, fresh, hearty, healthy food. You know, with lentils and sweet potatoes and that sort of thing.
Kind of obsessively follow American government and, in pursuit of that, politics.
Aryeh Bernstein's Blog
Apply now for Yeshivat Hadar: Transformative Summer and Year-Round Experiences
Mechon Hadar is excited to announce that it is now accepting applications for the both the summer 2009 session and the first-ever year-round session (2009-2010) of Yeshivat Hadar.
Yeshivat Hadar is animated by three central goals:
· To foster a community of men and women who engage in intensive Torah study, prayer and action.
· To offer a passionate vision of traditional Jewish life as a spiritual path.
· To empower students to build and contribute to vibrant Jewish communities across the Un… Continue
Yeshivat Hadar is animated by three central goals:
· To foster a community of men and women who engage in intensive Torah study, prayer and action.
· To offer a passionate vision of traditional Jewish life as a spiritual path.
· To empower students to build and contribute to vibrant Jewish communities across the Un… Continue
Posted on November 24, 2008 at 6:41pm —
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