July 13, 2017
New York, NY — The Orthodox Union announced its launch of a speakers’ bureau, featuring a roster of dozens of the Torah community’s greatest thinkers, leaders, and scholars, now available to all synagogues, with discounts and special opportunities for OU member synagogues.
Compiled over the past few months, the bureau will be managed by the OU Synagogue Services team, who will connect high-level speakers with local synagogues via the OU’s regional directors.
This launch is part of a larger OU initiative of bolstering adult Torah education nationwide. After the OU’s momentous Torah in the City event this past January, with over 1,500 attending for a day of Torah lectures; followed by a Yom Yerushalayim Torah program that was broadcast in 300 synagogues in May — the OU is looking to expand the reach of its Torah programming all the more with its new speakers’ bureau, encouraging shuls nationwide to invite top speakers to their hometowns.
“As we continue to partner with synagogues across the country to bring inspiration and enlightenment to our communities, we are excited to offer this new resource,” said OU President Moishe Bane. “We hope that OU synagogues will take advantage of our terrific array of talented and diverse speakers.”
“Even shuls that have had great success with their scholar-in-residence programs will likely discover in our bureau a gem of a speaker whom they’ve never heard or even heard about,” said Rabbi Gedalyah Berger, Adult Education Coordinator of OU’s Synagogue Services. “‘Mi-kol melamdai hiskalti’ reminds us of the value of always seeking out new teachers from whom to learn and grow.”
Check out the full list of speakers and bios at ouservices.org/speakers. Each speaker page includes a link to submit an inquiry to the OU. Once you submit your request, the OU team will contact you to follow up.
The bureau list currently includes:
Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, Dr. Lisa Aiken, Rabbi Daniel Alter, Rabbi Dr. Nachum Amsel, Rabbi Hayyim Angel, Rabbi Kenneth Auman, Mr. Mark (Moishe) Bane, Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin, Prof. Elisheva Baumgarten, Rabbi Avi Baumol, Mrs. Leora Bednarsh, Rabbi Moshe Benovitz, Rabbi Dr. David Berger, Dr. Ditza Berger, Rabbi Gedalyah Berger, Prof. Yitzhak Berger, Rabbi Avi Berman, Mr. Adam Berner, Cantor Chaim Dovid Berson, Rabbi Jeffrey Bienenfeld, Mrs. Rookie Billet, Rabbi Gideon Black, Dr. Norman Blumenthal, Rabbi Reuven Boshnack, Rabbi Dr. Kenneth Brander, Rabbi Shlomo Brody, Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, Mrs. Aliza Bulow, Rabbi Yosef Carmel, Rabbi Robert Charnoff, Ms. Raizi Chechik, Mrs. Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, Rabbi Dovid M. Cohen, Mr. Nathan Diament, Rabbi Mark Dratch, Rabbi Pini Dunner, Rabbi David Eckstein, Ms. Betty Ehrenberg, Rabbi Shlomo Einhorn, Yoetzet Halacha Atara Eis, Rabbi Yosi Eisen, Rabbi Moshe Elefant, Rabbi Eli Eleff, Rabbi Dr. Abba Engelberg, Prof. Jeremy England, Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom, Rabbi Daniel Feldman, Rabbi David Felsenthal, Rabbi Dr. Adam Ferziger, Prof. Steven Fine, Mrs. Alexandra Fleksher, Mr. Howard Tzvi Friedman, Prof. Dean Rachel Friedman, Rabbi Yehuda Friedman, Yoetzet Halacha Ilana Gadish, Mendy Ganchrow, M.D., Mr. Eli Genauer, Dr. Scott Goldberg, Mrs. Yael Goldfischer, Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, Dr. Aviva Goldstein, Dr. Julie Goldstein, Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer, Rabbi Mark Gottlieb, Rabbi Aaron Greenberg, Rabbi Micah Greenland, Rabbi Yosef Grossman, Mr. Bentzi Gruber,
Dr. Naomi Grunhaus, Prof. Jeffrey S. Gurock, Rabbi Ilan Haber, Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff, Dr. Michael (Avi) Helfand, Rabbi Avi Heller, Mr. Naftali Herrmann, Rabbi Jesse Horn, Mrs. Michal Horowitz, Rabbi Judah Isaacs, Rabbi Chaim (Howard) Jachter, Ms. Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll, Rabbi Dovid Jenkins, Mrs. Rivka Kahan, Rabbi Alan Kalinsky, Prof. Ephraim Kanarfogel, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan,
Mrs. Sharona Kaplan, Dr. Joshua Karlip, Dr. Mordechai Kedar, Capt. Alex Keisch, Prof. Naomi Nechama Klapper, Dr. Leslie Ginsparg Klein, Ms. Phyllis Koegel, Ms. Ann Koffsky, Mrs. Miriam Kosman, Mrs. Ruchi Koval, Rabbi Ari Lamm, Rabbi Israel Lashak, Rabbi Menachem Leibtag, Dr. Michelle Levine, Prof. Samuel Levine, Rabbi Yamin Levy, Dr. Jeff Lichtman, Mr. Maury Litwack,
Dr. John Loike, Dr. David Luchins, Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel, Mrs. Sherri Mandell, Rabbi Ari Marburger, Dr. Bat-Sheva Maslow, Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich, Rabbi Judah Mischel, Dr. Rona Novick, Rebbetzin Lori Palatnik, Mrs. Simi Peters, Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Pill, Rabbi Adir Posy, Prof. Nechama Price, Rabbi Nahum Rabinowitz, Mrs. Sivan Rahav-Meir, Rabbi Aaron I. Reichel, Esq., Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman, Rabbi Yona Reiss, Prof. Sarah Rindner, Dr. Avigail Rock, Prof. Smadar Rosensweig,
Rabbi Shalom Rosner, Rabbi Joshua Ross, Yoetzet Halacha Bracha Rutner, Prof. Chaim Saiman, Yoetzet Halacha Shoshana Samuels, Mr. Stephen Savitsky, Rabbi Shay Schachter, Rabbi Shlomo Schachter, Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, Prof. Shoshana Schechter, Dr. Yitzchak Schechter, Prof. Lawrence Schiffman, Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Schnall, Mr. Ari Schonbrun, Rabbi Menachem Schrader, Prof. Peninnah Schram, Rabbi Dov Schreier, Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Schwartz, Dr. Rivka Press-Schwartz, Mr. Shlomo Schwartz, Rabbi Yehoshua Dovid Schwartz, Prof. Shai Secunda, Mrs. Lisa Septimus, Rabbi Dr. David Shatz, Rabbi Dr. Michael A. Shmidman, Rabbi Sam Shor, Dr. David Silberklang, Yoetzet Halacha Tova Warburg Sinensky, Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin, Mrs. Meira Spivak, Rebbetzin Judi Steinig,
Rabbi Jeremy Stern, Dr. Marian Stoltz-Loike, Rabbi Avrohom Stone, Ms. Debbie Stone, Prof. Suzanne Stone, Rabbi Gil Student, Rabbi Ari Sytner, Rabbi Moshe Taragin, Rabbi Reuven Taragin, Mrs. Racheli Taubes, Rabbi Yaakov Taubes, Mrs. Penina Taylor, Rabbi Simon Taylor, Rabbi Akiva Tendler, Rabbi Moshe Tessone, Rabbi Reuven Tradburks, Prof. Mark (Moshe) Trencher, Rabbi Yaakov Trump,
Prof. Daniel Tsadik, Rabbi Steven Weil, Mrs. Yael Weil, Mrs. Esther Wein, Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Rabbi Yonah Weinrib, Rabbi Akiva Weiss, Rabbi Dr. Richard Weiss, Rabbi Gideon Weitzman, Rabbi David Wietchner, Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey Woolf, Rabbi Reuven Ziegler, Dr. Yael Ziegler,
Yoetzet Halacha Dr. Deena Zimmerman, Dr. Avivah Zornberg
For more information, contact Rabbi Gedalyah Berger at bergerg@ou.org.