About Us
OUR STORY
Founded and directed by Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin and Dr. Sandra Lilienthal in the aftermath of October 7th, 2023, the organization had its roots in healing the divisiveness exposed by the 2016 election and easing the isolation caused by the pandemic in 2020. “People were starved for engagement, both intellectually and socially and we asked ourselves – how can we address that Jewishly? Wisdom Without Walls is our way to share Jewish Wisdom in a www world.
Twice a month, the leading minds of the Jewish world lead intimate conversations about topics that are relevant to Jews and Judaism today, exposing us to different ideas and engaging in conversation with those present.
SOME OF OUR CONVERSATION LEADERS:
- Professor Jonathan Sarna of Brandeis University, the pre-eminent historian of American Jewry
- Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York, the pre-eminent spokesman for a robust Reform Judaism and peoplehood
- Rachel Korazim, Israel’s most important adult educator, expert on Israeli poetry and spiritual expression, post-October 7
- Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie of Labshul, one of American Judaism’s most creative and audacious spiritual leaders
- Rabbi Lance Sussman, rabbi emeritus of Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel, Elkins Park, PA; historian of the American Jewish experience
- Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, one of the most improtant theologians of our times, known for his thoughts on the issue of pluralism in Jewish life
- Rabbi Shlomo Brody, author of the recently published Ethics of Our Fighters: A Jewish View on War and Morality
- Rabbi Shai Held, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at the Hadar institute and author of the forecoming Judaism is About Love
- Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein, founder of JFNA’s Initiative for Jewish Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and Kamochah, a community for Black Orthodox Jews.
- Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, author, educator and activist on issues of ethical renewal and social justice
- Mark Oppenheimer, author and journalist covering American religion for 25 years
- Elana Stein Hain, Rosh Beit Midrash and a senior research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America
- Rabbi Ed Feinstein,
- Yossi Klein Halevi
- Abigail Pogrebin
