Rabbi Or Rose

Founding Member of the Rabbinic Faculty at Hebrew College

A) What qualities make the nominee deserving of the Z3 Bridge Builder Award?

Rabbi Or Rose is a founding member of the rabbinic faculty at Hebrew College in Newton, MA. As a pluralistic rabbinical school, Hebrew College is devoted to rigorous study of the full breadth of Jewish religion and culture. As a firm believer in the College's mission, Rabbi Rose uses his empathy, his emotional intelligence, his wisdom, and his depth to bridges divides and bring diverse people together, creating community and building mutual respect.

B) In what ways has the nominee demonstrated exceptional leadership and commitment to their work in bridging divides?

Rabbi Rose holds human diversity as sacred. Through his teaching, lectures, workshops, and seminars, he skillfully leads the way in creating a safe space for individuals with opposing views to come together. His ability to create dialogue in diverse ways is a hallmark of his leadership both on the faculty with his rabbinical students, as a teacher in Hebrew College's adult learning programs, and as the Director of the College's Miller Center for Interreligious Learning and Leadership. In each of these areas, he is committed to engaging a multiplicity of Jewish experiences and perspectives in an environment of mutual respect. No easy feat on any day, and especially in today's climate of a variety of ways to be Jewish, ways to observe, and viewpoints about Israel. Rabbi Rose bridges divides and holds space for each member of K'lal Yisrael.

C) How has the nominee's work impacted the Jewish community and beyond?

As a teacher of future rabbis, each one coming to Hebrew College from a different path and world view, Rabbi Rose is unafraid to encounter differing viewpoints. By asking honest and searching questions, by drawing on a deep well of sacred Jewish texts, and by offering his full self, he impacts every student in a way that leaves them feeling seen, heard, and respected. What's more, the ripple effects of his teachings are endless. Every student he works with goes on to lead and serve entire communities and organizations. He models collaboration and understanding for them. His classrooms are laboratories, with the results going on to impact hundreds and thousands of people all over the world. He is a bridge builder who teachers others to bridge builders too. Students of Rabbi Rose's learn and experience that being Jewish is not binary - it is a delicate balance of the particular and the universal. It is a both, not an either or. Or's classrooms are sacred and safe spaces, where difference can be explored and celebrated, where fears and presuppositions can be acknowledged and unpacked.

In this fractured, hurting world - where so much is defined by what we are not vs what we are, it is exactly this kind of nuanced approach that more communities need. I know that being recognized with the Z3 Bridge Builder Award would give Or much naches and zeal in his path forward.