Clal Faculty

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, Clal President

Listed three years in a row in Newsweek as one of America’s "50 Most Influential Rabbis," and recognized as one of our nation’s leading "Preachers & Teachers," by Beliefnet.com, think tank President, talk show host, interfaith activist, and diversity expert Brad Hirschfield is the author of You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism (Harmony, Jan. 2008). He also conceived and hosts two groundbreaking series for Bridges TV-American Muslim TV Network, Building Bridges: Abrahamic Perspectives on the World Today (three seasons), and American Pilgrimage.

The only rabbi featured on ABC’s "Nightline UpClose," Hirschfield offers a unique perspective on the American spiritual landscape and political and social trends to audiences nationwide. A contributor on ethical issues for Tru-TV, and co-host of the weekly radio show, Hirschfield and Kula (KXL, Portland, OR), he is frequently quoted in the press. A popular media guest, he has appeared on CNN, PBS, MTV, and NPR, among others, and was featured in PBS’s "Frontline: Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero," and the acclaimed documentary, Freaks Like Me. A regular commentator for The Huffington Post, he writes a column, For God’s Sake, for the WashingtonPost/Newsweek.com’s "On Faith," and his blog, Windows & Doors, appears on Beliefnet.com, (the net’s largest site for spirituality and inspiration) and was featured on the homepage of Digg.com.

Rabbi Hirschfield is the President of Clal–The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, a leadership training institute, think tank and resource center committed to religious pluralism and the healthier use of religion in American public life. He has inspired audiences from the Aspen Institute and the Washington National Cathedral, to the Islamic Society of North America, and many leading universities and religious institutions. A featured speaker at the Parliament of the World’s Religioins in both Barcelona and Melbourne, he was recently invited by the Governments of the United States and the Republic of Indonesia to speak at the Jakarta Interfaith Dialogue.

Hirschfield is the editor of Remember for Life: Holocaust Survivors’ Stories of Faith and Hope (The Jewish Publication Society, 2007). He is a co-author of Embracing Life & Facing Death: A Jewish Guide to Palliative Care (CLAL, 2003). An Orthodox rabbi, he received his M.A. and M. Phil from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and his B.A. from the University of Chicago.

Email: bhirschfield@clal.org