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Rabbi Shai Held

President and Dean, Mechon Hadar

Rabbi Shai Held–theologian, scholar, and educator–is President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Mechon Hadar, where he also directs the Center for Jewish Leadership and Ideas.  Previously, he served for six years as Scholar-in-Residence at Kehilat Hadar in New York City, and taught both theology and Halakhah at the Jewish Theological Seminary.  He also served as Director of Education at Harvard Hillel.

Turning Memory into Empathy: The Torah’s Ethical Charge

One of the Torah’s central projects is to turn memory into empathy and moral responsibility. Appealing to our experience of defenselessness in Egypt, the Torah seeks to transform us into people who see those who are vulnerable and exposed rather than looking past them.

D'var Torah