Daniel Gordis (born 1959) is an American-born Israeli author and speaker, who is best known as a passionate advocate of Israel. He is Koret Distinguished Fellow at Shalem College in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, where he previously also served as Senior Vice President and Chair of the Core Curriculum, until his retirement from those positions. The author of a dozen books on

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, and twice awarded the

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.history of Israel

The Forward
has called Gordis "one of the most influential Israel analysts around." Gordis is also the author of the popular blog and podcast
Israel from the Inside
which is published on Substack.

Biography

Daniel Gordis was born on July 5, 1959, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, but was raised in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

where he attended public high school. His father was Leon Gordis, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, and his grandfather was Rabbi Robert Gordis, a noted biblical scholar and one of the leaders of the Conservative Movement. Gordis studied Political Science at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

, and received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

and rabbinic ordination from the

Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studi ...

. Gordis and his wife moved to California in 1984, and while there, he received his Ph.D. from the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

. He immigrated to Israel in 1998. From 1998 to 2007, he worked at the Mandel Foundation and the Mandel Leadership Institute in Jerusalem. He joined the

Shalem Center The Shalem Center ( he, מרכז שלם, ''Merkaz Shalem'') was a Jerusalem research institute that supported academic work in the fields of philosophy, political theory, Jewish and Zionist history, Bible and Talmud, Middle East Studies, archaeolo ...

in 2007 as Senior Vice President and Koret Distinguished Fellow at Shalem College.

Academic career

While living in Los Angeles, Gordis worked at the

University of Judaism A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

for almost fifteen years, and was the founding Dean of its Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, the first rabbinical college on the West Coast of the United States. He and his family moved to Israel in 1998. In 2007, after nine years as vice president of the Mandel Foundation and director of its Leadership Institute, Gordis joined the Shalem Center to join the team founding Israel's first

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capac ...

. Gordis has written for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...

'', ''The New York Times Magazine'', ''Moment'', '' Tikkun'', the '' Jerusalem Post'', ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...

'' and ''

Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of '' halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generat ...

''. He is now
regular columnist
for the Jerusalem Post, for which he writes a regular column called "A Dose of Nuance," and fo
Bloomberg View

Controversies

Gordis has been harshly critical of American Jews who criticize Israeli government policies, sometimes publicly accusing them of either betraying Israel and the Jewish people (as in the case of Rabbi Sharon Brous), having insufficient love for Israel (Rabbi Jill Jacobs) or being a traitor to the Jewish people ( Peter Beinart). He has also extended this assessment to rabbinical seminaries and their students. He was once recognized as a leading

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

rabbi, but is no longer publicly associated with that movement. Slightly left of center when he arrived in Israel in 1998, his writings suggest a gradual move to the right. Most people now consider him a moderate conservative.

Published works

Books

''God Was Not in the Fire: The Search for a Spiritual Judaism''
(Scribner, 1995)
''Does the World Need the Jews: Rethinking Chosenness and American Jewish Identity''
(Scribner, 1997)
''Becoming a Jewish Parent: How to Explore Spirituality and Tradition with Your Children''
(Random House, 1999)
''If a Place Can Make You Cry''
(Crown, 2002)
''Home to Stay: One American Family’s Chronicle of Miracles and Struggles in Contemporary Israel''
(Random House, 2003)
''Coming Together, Coming Apart''
(Wiley, 2006)
''Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End''
(Wiley, 2009) The book won the 2008

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.Pledges of Jewish Allegiance: Conversion, Law, and Policymaking in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Orthodox Responsa
(Stanford U Press, 2012)
The Promise of Israel: Why Its Seemingly Greatest Weakness Is Actually Its Greatest Strength
(Wiley, 2012)
Menachem Begin and the Battle for Israel's Soul
(Nextbook, 2014) The book has been called by UK-based freelance writer and critic Stephen Daisely "the gold standard text in Begin studies". Critics beg to disagree, such as Samuel Thrope who writes "The book is a paragon of overweening pride: smug, self-satisfied, convinced of its own conclusions, and disdainful of its presumed critics" and that the "black-and-white picture of Ben-Gurion and Begin">David_Ben-Gurion.html" ;"title="nowiki/>David Ben-Gurion">Ben-Gurion and Beginis a caricature that does not do justice to either figure." -- OR try this [full text] URL: http://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/.premium-1.578340?trailingPath=2.169%2C2.216%2C2.218%2C
"Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn"
(Ecco/Harper Collins, 2016)
"We Stand Divided"
(Ecco, 2019)

Articles

* 'E-mail from an Anxious State,' in ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

,'' September 30, 2001, pp. 42–47
E-mail from an Anxious State
* 'Needing Israel,' in ''

,'' Op-Ed Page, April 13, 2002, page A17
Needing Israel
Subsequently entered into the

Congressional Record The ''Congressional Record'' is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Publishing Office and issued when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record In ...

by Representative

Anthony Weiner Anthony David Weiner (; born September 4, 1964) is an American former politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1999 until his resignation in 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he consistently carried the district with at ...

(D-NY) on April 17, 2002, Volume 148, No. 43, pp. H1401-1403. * 'Taking Risks After the Gaza War,' on the ''New York Times On-Line Opinion Section,'' January 12, 2009
Taking Risks After the Gaza War

He's a Religious Leader, Not a Diplomat

Forcing Clarity on Israel

'The Tower of Babel and the Birth of Nationhood,'
in ''

Azure Azure may refer to: Colour * Azure (color), a hue of blue ** Azure (heraldry) ** Shades of azure, shades and variations Arts and media * ''Azure'' (Art Farmer and Fritz Pauer album), 1987 * Azure (Gary Peacock and Marilyn Crispell album), 2013 ...

'' 40 (Spring 2010)]
'The Shape and Meaning of Biblical History,'
in ''

'' 45 (Summer 2011)]

Film

Gordis participated in the documentary film ''Indestructible'' about a man suffering from

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

, in which he discussed theological explanations for human suffering.

References

External links

Daniel Gordis: Dispatches from an Anxious State

Indestructible - A Story of Survival

Arianna in Israel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordis, Daniel American Conservative rabbis Jewish American writers Living people 1959 births Columbia College (New York) alumni Jewish Theological Seminary of America alumni University of Southern California alumni American emigrants to Israel 21st-century American Jews