Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer is a leading thinker and author on the meaning of Israel to American Jews, the value of the Jewish past to the Jewish present, and questions of leadership and change in American Jewish life.

Dr. Kurtzer leads the efforts of the Institute across the North American Jewish communal landscape, and teaches widely in the Institute’s many platforms for rabbis, lay leaders, Jewish professionals, and leaders of other faith communities.

Dr. Kurtzer received his doctorate in Jewish Studies from Harvard University and an MA in Religion from Brown University, and is an alumnus of both the Bronfman Youth and Wexner Graduate Fellowships. Previously he served as a member of the faculty and as the inaugural Chair of Jewish Communal Innovation at Brandeis University.

Dr. Kurtzer is the author of Shuva: The Future of the Jewish Past, which offers new thinking to contemporary Jews on navigating the tensions between history and memory, and on how we can relate meaningfully to our past without returning to it.