About our Scholar-in-Residence, Rabbi Brad Hirschfield:

How fortunate we are to have such an accomplished scholar in our midst so we may benefit from the knowledge he will share with us. Listed many years in Newsweek as one of iAmerica’s “50 Most Influential Rabbis,” and recognized as one of our nation’s leading “Preachers and Teachers,” by Beliefnet.com, Rabbi Brad Hirschfield serves as the President of Clal–The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, a training institute, think tank, and resource center nurturing religious, intellectual and social pluralism within the Jewish community, and the wider world, as it also nurtures a volunteer and professional leadership that will be increasingly effective in meeting the challenges and opportunities of our 21st century global Jewish family.   

Hirschfield is the author and editor of numerous books, including You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism, writes a column for Religion News Service, and appears regularly on TV and radio in outlets ranging from The Washington Post to Fox News Channel. He is the founder of the Stand and See Fellowship, which brings hundreds of Christian religious leaders to Israel, preparing them to address the increasing polarization around Middle East issues with six words, “It’s more complicated than we know”.

An ordained Orthodox rabbi, who studied for his PhD and taught at both JTS and American Jewish University, Rabbi Brad regularly teaches and consults for religious organizations — Jewish and Christian — including United Seminary (Methodist), Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (Modern Orthodox) Luther Seminary (Lutheran) and The Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative) — civic organizations including No Labels, Odyssey Impact, and The Aspen Institute, numerous Jewish Federations, and a variety of communal and family foundations.