Mishael Zion

Mishael Zion (Hebrew: מישאל ציון; born 1981, Jerusalem, Israel) is an Israeli rabbi, author, and educator. He is the founder of the Mandel Leadership Institute's Program for Leadership in Israeli Culture and the Klausner Community,^[1] a partnership minyan in Jerusalem. Mishael is a past faculty member at the Shalom Hartman Institute and Bronfman Fellowship.

Mishael Zion
Born	1981 (age 43–44) Jerusalem, Israel
Occupation(s)	Rabbi, author, educator
Notable work	Halayla Hazeh: The Israeli Haggadah, A Night to Remember Haggadah

He writes regularly for various publications including the Times of Israel,^[2] Tablet Magazine.^[3] HuffPost,^[4] and Text and the City^[5] and is a frequent lecturer and commentator on Israeli radio and at conferences worldwide. He also hosted a 4 episode podcast, Hineni, in conjunction with Beit Avi Chai.^[6]

In 2013 he was selected as one of ten “Rabbis to Watch^[7]” by the Newsweek/Daily Beast's list of top Rabbis. He is known for his ability to bridge divides - between religious and secular Jews, Israeli and diaspora Jews, and between different streams of religious thought.

Early life and education

Mishael Zion was born in Jerusalem, Israel to Marcelle Zion, a childbirth educator, and Noam Sachs Zion,^[8] a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute. He is the grandson of Rabbi Moses B. Sachs, who was the rabbi at Congregation Bnai Abraham in St. Louis Park, Minnesota from 1959-1974.^[9][10][11]

He studied at Yeshivat Maaleh Gilboa and Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, where he received his rabbinic ordination in 2011. Zion received a bachelor's degree in anthropology from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 2008 and a master's degree in Jewish history from Tel Aviv University in 2024.

He was a visiting scholar at University of California, Berkeley and a research fellow at the Tikvah Center for Law & Jewish Civilization^[12] at NYU School of Law.

Zion lives in Jerusalem with his wife and their four children.

Published works

Zion has authored several books and collections that explore classical Jewish sources in modern contexts.

In 2004 together with his father Noam Sachs Zion, Mishael Zion produced a Hebrew-language Haggadah, Halayla Hazeh: The Israeli Haggadah, which integrates modern Israeli narratives into the Seder experience and provides a guide for discussions at the Seder table.^[13][14] In 2024, twenty years after its initial release, a new "Special Edition" was updated for a new generation. Notably it included reflections and readings regarding the events of October 7, 2023, framing the Passover themes of suffering and redemption within the context of contemporary national trauma and resilience.^[15][16]

In 2007 the father and son team co-authored A Night to Remember: The Haggadah of Contemporary Voices)^[17] in English. The Haggadah weaves together classical texts, modern commentary, poetry, and stories from diverse Jewish communities, inviting readers to adapt the Passover Seder to contemporary contexts. The book was very popular among English-speaking Jewish communities.^[18][19][20]

In 2018, Zion published Eighteen Talmudic Stories Every Jew Should Know',^[21] a digital anthology produced in collaboration with Sefaria and the Bronfman Fellowship. The project presents classic Talmudic narratives in accessible, multimedia formats, including video introductions by Zion and accompanying source sheets.

Esther: A New Israeli Commentary, published in 2019,^[22] offers a contemporary interpretation of the Book of Esther, examining its influence on Israeli culture, art, and popular imagination.^[23][24] It is part of the "New Israel commentary" series published by the Avi Chai Foundation and edited by Prof. Avigdor Shinan,^[25] designed to provide a new Israeli-focused interpretation of books of the Bible, reflecting on themes relevant to modern Israeli life and identity.

In 2024 he also edited the book I Promise You,(in Hebrew) a compilation of essays by diverse Israeli cultural leaders presented as part of a conference run by the Mandel Leadership Institute. The book highlights reflections on the role of Israeli children's culture during war and especially in light of the October 7 events.^{[26][27][28][29]}

Key articles and lectures

• A Thanksgivukkah Manifesto,^[30] HUFFPOST, Nov 2013
• What kind of religious Jew am I? The Rachel and Jon kind,^[31] Times of Israel, Sept 2024
• A Tale of Two Zions - ELI Talk on the two promised lands of the Jewish people^[32]
• Five Big Hartman Ideas,^[33] Times of Israel 2013
• From Mourning to Resilience: Community Rabbis Face Israel at War^[34]
• Singing Leonard Cohen on Yom Kippur^[35]

Professional positions

Mandel Leadership Institute

Since 2018 Zion has been the director of the Program for Leadership in Israeli Culture at the Mandel Leadership Institute^[36] in Jerusalem, which he founded.^[37] It is designed to cultivate a new generation of cultural leaders in Israel by infusing it with Jewish and humanistic content. Its graduates include some of Israel’s leading cultural and media leaders, such as journalists Roni Kuban and Asaf Liberman,^[38] singers Shai Tsabari and Ester Rada, and authors Tamar Hochstadter,^[39] Yair Assulin^[40] and Amichai Chasson.

Rikmah – Beit Midrash for Rabbinic Leadership in Israel

Zion is a founding faculty member of Rikmah, the YCT (Yeshivat Chovevei Torah,) Beit Midrash for Rabbinic Leadership in Israel, created to support professional rabbis and rabbaniyot serving communities and schools across Israel.^[41][42]

The program integrates pastoral training, reflective practice, and a ten-day study tour in the United States to expose fellows to diverse models of Jewish leadership. Zion helped design its curriculum, which emphasizes listening, inclusivity, and cross-community collaboration among Israeli religious leaders.

Bronfman Fellowship

From 2011 to 2018, Zion served as the Co-Director and Head of Education for the Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel,^[43] now known as The Bronfman Fellowship. The program brings together outstanding North American and Israeli teenagers from different backgrounds to explore their identities and connections to Judaism and Israel, thereby fostering a new generation of Jewish leaders. As part of this role he worked closely with Edgar M. Bronfman in the final years of his life.

Shalom Hartman Institute

Between 2004 and 2023 Zion taught in various programs at the Shalom Hartman Institute in both Israel and North America.^[44][45] In 2024 he created a Haggadah supplement with the Hartman Institute to enable people to discuss issues related to October 7, 2023 at their seder tables.^[46][47] In his last position he was a fellow of the Kogod Center at the Shalom Hartman Institute in North America.^[48]

Community involvement

Zion is a founder and leader of the Klausner Minyan (Hebrew: מניין קלוזנר), a partnership minyan in the Talpiot-Arnona neighborhood of Jerusalem. Established in the 2010s, it follows the model of halakhically egalitarian partnership minyanim, seeking to expand women’s participation in prayer and Torah reading within Orthodox frameworks.^[1][49]