Dear Judaism Unbound Community,

I am writing to share some exciting personal news that is also great news for Judaism Unbound. I have accepted an invitation to become President of Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.

The mission of Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah is highly aligned with that of Judaism Unbound, and I am excited about being able to have an impact on the future of Judaism in a new way. I will officially take on this new role one week from today.

Don’t worry – we don’t expect you to notice much change: I will still be co-hosting the Judaism Unbound podcast every Friday with Lex, co-hosting The Oral Talmud video program with Benay Lappe, and teaching in the UnYeshiva. Most of the changes will be “under the hood.” I will continue to provide creative input to Judaism Unbound, but someone else will take on the day-to-day leadership of the organization. Judaism Unbound has a great professional and volunteer team working behind the scenes, and I am grateful to the folks who have agreed to step in to keep everything running smoothly. 

Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah has long been an important supporter of Judaism Unbound’s work. If you valued jewishLIVE’s streaming videos during the pandemic lockdowns, or if you have studied in the UnYeshiva, then you have benefited directly from the foundation’s support. When the world started shutting down in the spring of 2020, we realized there needed to be robust online Jewish experiences, and we approached Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah. The foundation quickly made a grant that enabled us to purchase the equipment and subscriptions we needed to launch jewishLIVE. The foundation continued to support the project through its evolution into the UnYeshiva as the pandemic eased.

Judaism Unbound has always been about partnerships. The podcast wouldn’t exist without our guests; jewishLIVE would have been just a web page without all the individuals and organizations that created content while most of us were stuck at home; and the UnYeshiva brings dozens of teachers into direct contact with “regular Jews” from all over the world who would otherwise never find them. As President of Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah, I will work with these partners and many new ones to continue to catalyze and support a movement to bring about the next iteration of Jewish life. Judaism Unbound and Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah share a vision of a Judaism that helps people live meaningful lives of purpose and contribution, working to ensure the dignity of all life and taking responsibility for the wellbeing of the planet on which we live. 

It has been the honor of my life to help build Judaism Unbound, and I am excited to remain on the ship while others take the helm. I’m grateful that Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah is committed to making sure that Judaism Unbound navigates this transition well and evolves in such a way as to increase the impact of the ideas we have developed. And I’m most grateful to all of you for your excitement about our approach to Judaism and for your ongoing enthusiasm to experiment along with us. 

Warmly,

Dan