Etzion Education and Leadership Conference

Prior to the Etzion Foundation's annual dinner in 2019, faculty, alumni, and alumnae in communal leadership positions participated in 7 panels that addressed the contemporary challenges impacting the Jewish community in Israel and the Diaspora today. One panel, on “The Future of Jewish communities in the Diaspora,” was moderated by Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph ’88, Senior Vice President at Yeshiva University, and featured Moishe Bane ’77, President of the Orthodox Union, Rabbi Dr. Leonard Matanky, Rabbi of Congregation K.I.N.S of West Rogers Park, Dean of Ida Crown Jewish Academy and past President of the Rabbinical Council of America, and Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis ’76, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. Another panel, entitled, “The Devar Hashem in the Digital Age” was moderated by Rabbi Zvi Engel ’92, Rabbi of Congregation Or Torah in Skokie, IL, and featured Rabbi Menachem Penner ’88, Dean of RIETS and of the Men’s Undergraduate Torah Studies Program at YU, and Rabbi Dr. Michael Rosensweig ’73, Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University, and Rav Moshe Taragin. The final session was a discussion of “The Worldwide Dati Leumi Community and the Har Etzion Institutions: Past, Present and Future” with Rosh Yeshiva Rav Mosheh Lichtenstein, Rosh Yeshiva Rav Baruch Gigi, and Rabbanit Esti Rosenberg, Rosh Beit Midrash of Migdal Oz. It was introduced by Rabbi Dr. Seth Grauer ’96, Rosh Yeshiva and Head of School at Bnei Akiva Schools of Toronto, and was moderated by Rabbi Gidon Rothstein ’82.