Gil Perl
CEO of the Ades Family Foundation. Founding Head of School of the Jewish Leadership Academy. Fascinated with the Jewish future.
Summoning Our Inner Chareidi
Derasha for the 2nd Day of Rosh Hashanah, 5779
There are few phrases that encapsulate the ideals and aspirations of Torah Judaism quite like the phrase, yirat shamayim. Literally translated, the phrase means “fear” or “awe of Heaven.” Yet, in recent years Jewish thinkers have made the rather convincing case that this phrase actually has little to do . . .
Silencing the Satan
Derasha for the 1st Day of Rosh Hashanah, 5779
As one makes their way through the halakhot pertaining to the days and weeks leading up to this moment, a curious creature raises his ugly head time and again. He is one that we, living in the Modern world as we do, don’t often give much credence to and - if we do - we might well dismiss him as a Christian concept foreign to our . . .
זה היום עשה ה' נגילה ונשמחה בו
A Religious Zionist Perspective on Yom Ha'atzmaut
Following an incredibly inspiring communal tekes Yom HaZikaron last night followed by a ruach-filled tefillah chagigit in our Beit Midrash last night, and a spirited tefillah this morning, I took a few minutes out to try and place everything we were doing for Yom Ha'atzmaut in context.
As an institution and as a community we are . . .
The Next Chapter of the Jewish Community
An Armchair Conversation with Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, President of Yeshiva University
It was an honor and a privilege to host Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman this evening as part of our Kohelet Yeshiva Beit Midrash and to engage him in a public conversation about where our community is headed. Over the course of an hour we touched on issues ranging from the relationship between the Modern Orthodox community in the United States and . . .
Ahead of the Curve
Jewish Day Schools and the future of Education Reform
In a recent Op-Ed for the New York Jewish Week I argued that the focus of Education Reform ought to shift from specific teaching techniques and classroom protocols to the harnessing of cognitive science and data science for the sake of improving learning. In doing so I called for the Jewish community to marshal its resources in both . . .
Modern Orthodoxy and the Winds of Change
I received quite a few thoughtful responses to my article on Postmodern Orthodoxy last week and read though many more that were posted online. The conversations were healthy ones and I hope that we, as a community, can continue to challenge each other li-shem shamayim.
One very incisive and insightful email I received, came . . .
Postmodern Orthodoxy
Personal Reflections on Engaging Millennials
This past summer I was invited by the RCA to join a panel at their annual convention aimed at addressing the challenge of engaging Millennials in Orthodox shuls. Two weeks ago, I was invited by the Orthodox Union to join a group of school, shul, and youth leaders in a conversation about the religious state of our yeshiva high school . . .
