Modern Problems, Ancient Solutions: Distraction, Lonliness, & the Search for Meaning

About Micah Goodman

Dr. Micah Goodman is a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. He is a leading voice on Judaism, Zionism, the Bible, and the challenges and opportunities facing Israel and contemporary world Jewry. Dr. Goodman is the author of several Israeli bestsellers on canonical Jewish texts: Moses’s Final Speech, The Dream of the Kuzari, and The Secrets of the Guide for the Perplexed, all published in Hebrew by Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir. His 2017 book, Catch '67, also rose to the best-seller lists and prompted many discussions about the ramifications of the Six Day War at its 50th anniversary. Watch a video of Micah discussing his book at the Shalom Hartman Institute during summer 2017. Maimonides and the Book that Changed Judaism, published by JPS and the University of Nebraska Press in 2015, has endorsements by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and former Israeli President Shimon Peres. Dr. Goodman was one of two recipients of the Marc and Henia Liebhaber Prize for Religious Tolerance in 2014, along with leading Israeli musician Ehud Banai. Dr. Goodman directs Beit Midrash Yisraeli - Ein Prat, Israel's leading pluralistic Beit Midrash for young adults. With several thousand alumni and some 300 new students each year, Ein Prat strengthens the pluralistic Jewish character of Israel, nurtures connections between Israelis of different backgrounds, and builds a bridge between Israeli young adults and their Diaspora peers. Dr. Goodman lectures regularly overseas and at Israel’s leading universities, think tanks, and cultural venues to audiences that include Israel’s political and national leaders. Among other venues, in the past year Dr. Goodman has lectured and taught at the Knesset, the official residence of Israel’s Prime Minister, and the official residence of Israel’s President. Dr. Goodman has a doctorate in Jewish Thought from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and teaches at his alma mater. He is a member of the recently formed Global Forum of the National Library of Israel.