Episode 42

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Published on:

23rd Apr 2021

#42 - Dan Libenson, founder & president of The Institute for the Next Jewish Future & co-host of the Judaism Unbound podcast

Wouldn’t you like to predict the future? 

Dan Libenson, gets up each and every day and does just that – for the Jewish world. 

Dan Libenson is founder and president of the Institute for the Next Jewish Future, co-host of the popular Judaism Unbound podcast, and co-creator of jewishLIVE, where he co-hosts the weekly live-streaming video series “The Oral Talmud” with Benay Lappe. He’s also the co-creator of “Text People,” a new project making Jewish texts maximally accessible to a broad audience through short videos and other media.

Dan translated The Orchard by renowned Israeli novelist Yochi Brandes, a novel about the early days of Rabbinic Judaism, and was the translation editor of The Secret Book of Kings by the same author, a radical retelling of the stories of the early kings of Israel.

He spent over a decade working with Jewish students on campus, at Harvard and at the University of Chicago, for which he received numerous awards, including Hillel’s Exemplar of Excellence Award and an AVI CHAI Fellowship. Dan is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School and spent five years as a law professor. He lives in Chicago.

Links:

The Institute for the Next Jewish Future. Founded by Dan Libenson, the Institute is a hub for ideas, education, and action dedicated to accelerating bold innovation in Jewish life.

The official Judaism Unbound podcast website. Co-hosted by Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg, Judaism Unbound is a project of the Institute for the Next Jewish Future that catalyzes and supports grassroots efforts by “disaffected but hopeful” American Jews to re-imagine and re-design Jewish life in America for the 21st century. 

Listen to Judaism Unbound on Spotify

Check-out jewishLIVE, a portal to curated, inspiring live (and recorded) Jewish experiences.

Listen to The Oral Talmud, a weekly lie-streaming video series co-hosted by Dan Libenson and Benay Lappe.

Check out Text People, a new project co-created by Dan Libenson which makes Jewish texts accessible to a broad audience through short videos and other media.

Buy The Orchard by Yochi Brandes

Buy The Secret Book of Kings by Yochi Brandes

Dan Libenson on Twitter, @danlibenson

Dan Libenson on Facebook

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

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About the Podcast

Jewanced
A nuanced exploration of Israel, the Jewish world and beyond
Jewanced is hosted by Dan Feferman and Benny Scholder, two guys who grew up in America and live in Israel.
They're curious. They want to discuss. They want to challenge popular conceptions, they want to think critically, examine independently, and most of all, they crave nuance.

Each episode features a different guest. All interesting and original people who strive to break boundaries. Together with Dan and Benny, take a deep dive into politics, foreign affairs, religion, science, technology, food, the arts, business – you name it. Explore the nuanced crossroads of Israel, the global Jewish experience, and beyond.

What's the goal? To create a daring platform where people share their stories, insights, creations, and visions. Jewanced has no talking points, no script, no agenda...just a deeper nuanced understanding of our existence.

Join them on a journey as they explore, think, debate and discuss …. And most of all, listen.

About your hosts

Benny Scholder

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With over a decade of experience in Israel's tourism industry, Benny has managed sales, marketing, travel content, digital content, and the operations aspects of tour companies and travel agencies. Today, he is the Director of Sales-North America at Kenes Tours, Israel's leading provider of incoming tourism services, where he is proud to deliver transformative, custom-crafted Israel travel experiences designed to exceed expectations.
Originally from Minneapolis, Benny fell in love with Israel as a young adult, moving to the country in 2004. He has an extensive background in everything Israel-travel related, having completed Israel's intensive tour guide course in 2010. His career spans both logistical, content-related, and sales management positions with major and boutique Israeli tour companies alike. Benny lives with his amazing wife Maayan and two incredible children in the charming village of Gedera. In addition to his passion for transformative travel experiences, he's super passionate about food, modern & ancient history, politics, addictive TV, and game-changing podcasts. Contact him at Benny@jewanced.com

Dan Feferman

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Dan Feferman is a Major (res.) in the Israel Defense Forces. For almost a decade, he served as a foreign policy and national security analyst, strategist and adviser in the IDF General Staff; as a special assistant to the Deputy Chief of the General Staff; and a commander in an elite intelligence unit of AMAN's Research and Analysis Division.

He is a fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, a think-tank focusing on issues of importance to Israel and the Jewish people, where he researches religious pluralism in Israel, trends in Jewish identity and Israel-Diaspora relations. He is also a political and strategic consultant and publishes and speaks widely on the Middle East and Israeli defense and political matters.

He is the author of Rising Streams: Reform and Conservative Judaism in Israel, and of a soon-to-be-published book on the changing face of American Judaism.

Dan holds a BA in International Politics and Middle East Studies from the American University in Washington DC and an MA in National Security Studies from Tel Aviv University.

Originally from Indiana, Dan moved to Israel in 2005. He is married to Elisheva, has three amazing kids, and lives in Rehovot. When taking a break, Dan stays busy with Crossfit, martial arts and cooking.