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 institute aims to promote pluralism and liberal values in Israel and the Jewish diaspora and to preserve the democratic character of Israel. Hundreds of rabbis and Jewish lay leaders from North America attend the institute's programs each year.^[1]

History

Rabbi Professor David Hartman founded Shalom Hartman Institute in 1971. His wife Bobbi and their five children made aliyah to Israel, leaving his congregation in Montreal. Rabbi Hartman's home in Jerusalem became a beit midrash for young people attracted to Rabbi Hartman's philosophy. By 1976, the group was moved to a local synagogue, and the Shalom Hartman Institute was born - named for the memory of Rabbi Hartman's father.^[2]

After several changes of location, Teddy Kollek, former mayor of Jerusalem and a longstanding supporter of Rabbi Hartman, offered the institute more than three acres of land in the city's "Cultural Mile" which comprises the Jerusalem Theater, the L.A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art and other cultural and educational centers and institutes.^[3]

The institute established a variety of programs for teachers, rabbis, and lay leaders. Under Rabbi Hartman and his son, Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman, the institute has become a training center whose programs reach thousands of participants every year. Rabbi Dov Gartenberg of Los Angeles wrote in his blog in 2005 that the institute, "enables us to reflect on cutting edge issues facing modern Judaism." In 2009, Donniel Hartman was named president^[4] of Shalom Hartman Institute, and David Hartman was named founding president. In 2010 the Shalom Hartman Institute was called "prestigious" by a website covering San Francisco Bay Area Jewish affairs.^[5]

Shalom Hartman Institute's campus houses an advanced research center, provides a home to more than 50 scholars, including Israel Knohl, Moshe Idel, Menachem Lorberbaum, and others. The campus is also home to Charles E. Smith High School for Boys, grades 7–12, with more than 350 students, an in-house publications department that is publishing a series of books on Jewish thought with UK-based publisher Continuum International Publishing Group, conducts an annual conference,^[6] and centers for training educators, rabbis and lay community leaders.

The Shalom Hartman Institute is the organizer of the Muslim Leadership Initiative, which invites North American Muslims to explore how Jews understand Judaism, Israel, and Jewish peoplehood. The program also encourages participants to experience how Israelis, both inside and outside Israel, identify themselves, while exploring the issues of ethics, faith, and practice.^[7]

In May 2010, Israel's opposition party leader Tzipi Livni of Kadima called upon the Hartman Institute to organize the speakers for a daylong conference at the Israeli Knesset on Jewish identity in Israel.^[8]

Since spring 2021, the institute has been publishing a journal (both in print and online) titled Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas, which promotes thoughtful discourse on various contested issues of importance to the Jewish community.^[9]

Mission and funding

The Jerusalem-based Hartman Institute is a think tank that promotes pluralism, liberal values, and civil discourse among the Jewish community in Israel and in the diaspora. Its programs train rabbis and Jewish lay leaders in North America on promoting the "democratic character of Israel", diversity, and civil discourse.^[10][11]

Between 2010 and 2020, the Institute received over $25 million from the CLAWS Foundation, one of its largest donors during that period. The foundation is led by Jeffrey Yass and Arthur Dantchik, who also fund the Kohelet Policy Forum. In response to concerns about donor influence, Institute president Donniel Hartman stated that the organization sets its own agenda and should be judged by its work promoting Jewish pluralism and democratic values.^[12]

Programs

The Shalom Hartman Institute-North America runs the iEngage on Campus program that educates college students on Jewish peoplehood and the relationship between the Jewish people and Israel. In 2016, the institute received a $1 million grant to expand the program to nine campuses on the West Coast of the United States over 3 years.^[11] The initiative included campus professionals, academics, and undergraduate students, who participated in training programs held in both Israel and North America.^[13]

Center for Judaism and State Policy

The institute launched the Center for Judaism and State Policy at its Jerusalem campus in 2022 as part of a strategic partnership with the Harry Oscar Triguboff Institute. The center aimed to promote a pluralist research agenda through public advocacy, applied research, and public campaigns supporting policymakers, researchers, and activists.^[14]

Center for Israeli-Jewish Identity

The Center for Israeli-Jewish Identity focuses on pluralistic forms of contemporary Judaism for Israelis, from non-religious high school students to senior officers in the IDF. The Education Center's aim is to help Israelis learn about their Jewish heritage.^[15] The Be'eri Initiative for Pluralistic Jewish Education works with more than 50 Israeli high schools, hundreds of teachers and thousands of students. The Avi Chai Foundation, one of the Be'eri program's original funders says: "the project has had a significant positive influence on student attitudes to Jewish studies."^[16]

Shalom Hartman Institute-North America

The goal of the Shalom Hartman Institute-North America, run by its president Yehuda Kurtzer, is to strengthen Jewish communities in North America. SHI North America runs programs and seminars across the US and Canada.^[17][18]

The Institute runs a three-year program for North American rabbis that one participant described as: "one of the blessings of my rabbinate."

In July 2012, the Shalom Hartman Institute began a partnership with Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Life on Campus, called the Fellowship for Campus Professionals. The program brings Hartman Fellows to campuses in America in order to discuss and teach about the Jewish relationship with Israel.^[19][20]

In August, Hartman runs an annual student leadership summit; students, who are nominated by their university, gather to discuss issues, such as how to become a leader in one's Jewish community on campus. ^[21]

Author and commentator Yossi Klein Halevi is a Senior Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, as noted in a 2023 episode of The Ezra Klein Show published by The New York Times.^[22]