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

Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz is not your typical changemaker. He doesn’t seek the spotlight. He speaks softly, listens deeply, and acts decisively. In a landscape crowded with volume over substance, Rav Aaron is a quiet revolutionary - modest, unassuming, and extraordinarily effective. He embodies that rare combination of visionary thinker and practical builder… someone who not only imagines a better future, but patiently, persistently brings it to life.

Where others see roadblocks, Rav Aaron sees halachic tools. Where others raise their voices, he rolls up his sleeves. While many brilliant thinkers float bold ideas, Rav Aaron is one of the few who implements them, taking significant personal risks within the rabbinic world to advocate for inclusion, equality, and dignity within Halacha. For over a decade, he has crafted courageous halachic solutions that welcome the marginalized, elevate the voiceless, and make Jewish tradition a home for all Jews.

His belief system is clear: Halacha must never come at the expense of human dignity. But this belief isn’t rooted in rebellion; it’s grounded in responsibility, compassion, and commitment to Jewish peoplehood. Inspired by the ethos that “where there’s a rabbinic will, there’s a halachic way” (Blu Greenberg), Rav Aaron works from within - dissatisfied not with Orthodoxy itself, but instead with the exclusionary interpretations toward women, immigrants, LGBTQ+ Jews, and secular Israelis.

Rav Aaron is a builder of coalitions, communities, and conscience. Whether in his Jerusalem synagogue or in the Knesset advocating for mandatory prenuptial agreements, he cultivates inclusive space for dialogue among religious and secular, Israeli and Diaspora, traditional and progressive. He mentors with humility, leads without ego, and builds bridges no one else dares to propose.
He is best known for two groundbreaking initiatives: Hashgacha Pratit, Israel’s first private Orthodox kashrut supervision, which broke the Chief Rabbinate’s monopoly on kashrut with a 2018 Supreme Court win; and Chuppot, the only halachic Orthodox wedding institution in Israel that mandates prenuptial agreements to prevent aginut. These aren’t theoretical victories; they are lived, daily expressions of inclusion. Today, Chuppot marries 1–2 couples every day, offering weddings grounded in Halacha, dignity, and choice.
But his leadership transcends policy. Each year, Rav Aaron marches publicly in the Jerusalem Pride Parade. His presence sends a powerful message: Orthodoxy must not be a force of exclusion. His values are not just taught, but lived… with empathy, courage, and consistency.

A former Jerusalem city council member, yeshiva head, community rabbi, and movement founder, Rav Aaron works on every level from policymaking to pastoral care. He leads with presence, humility, and persistence.

At a time of profound tension in Israel, amid war, grief, and growing division, Rav Aaron offers a different path. As Israeli trust in the Chief Rabbinate erodes, he steps in - not just with halachic integrity, but with relational repair. He knows the true danger isn’t only religious disaffection, but alienation from one another.

In a fractured Jewish world, Rav Aaron stands out for his quiet strength and unwavering belief in a shared future. He is a bridge builder in the truest sense.

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

Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz has demonstrated extraordinary leadership in creating brave, principled, and halachically grounded alternatives to Israel’s religious establishment - alternatives that invite Jews back into relationship with tradition, each other, and the Jewish future. In a society fractured by polarization, alienation, and distrust of centralized power, Rav Aaron has built bridges where others have built walls… always through action, never only in theory.

His leadership journey began by confronting one of Israel’s most entrenched monopolies: kosher certification. Through his initiative Hashgacha Pratit, he established Israel’s first private Orthodox kashrut authority, empowering local communities, restoring trust to consumers, and offering entrepreneurs a choice for the first time in history. Rav Aaron’s approach was not oppositional; it was inclusive and empowering. In 2018, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled in his favor, establishing unprecedented independent kashrut supervision - a transformative milestone for religious agency and pluralism in Israel.

Immediately following the Supreme Court decision, R’Aaron turned his focus to marriage, founding Chuppot, an organization offering halachic Orthodox weddings independent of the Chief Rabbinate. Every couple who marries through Chuppot signs a halachic prenuptial agreement, making it the only institution in Israel that protects women from get-refusal in every single ceremony. In a halachic landscape that too often disempowers women, this innovation closes a critical justice gap without compromising tradition. Rav Aaron’s leadership here is both systemic and symbolic: by reclaiming the tools of Halacha for equity, he shows that feminist values and Orthodox life need not be in conflict.

Beyond policy, Rav Aaron models pluralism in public. A strictly Orthodox rabbi, he marches annually in the Jerusalem Pride Parade, a courageous act that broadcasts a powerful message: that religious commitment and LGBTQ+ inclusion are not mutually exclusive. For Rav Aaron, dignity is not optional; it is a condition of holiness.

At Chuppot, he has further expanded the boundaries of halachic inclusion. Women are empowered to officiate weddings and recite the Sheva Brachot (Seven Blessings) under the chuppah… both rare occurrences in Orthodox settings. Within the framework of Halacha, he maximizes every woman’s right to participate fully. These choices are not symbolic; they are structural interventions that change how Orthodoxy is experienced, especially by the next generation.

In 2025 alone, Chuppot is marrying 1–2 couples every day, even during wartime. Amid the Iron Swords war and heightened societal division, particularly around Haredi military exemption, Rav Aaron refuses to let Israelis turn on one another. He sees the failures of the Chief Rabbinate not as an excuse to disengage, but as a call to build something better.

As a former city council member, yeshiva head, and community rabbi, Rav Aaron brings his leadership to every level: grassroots and institutional, personal and national. He is not building a breakaway community; he is building a Jewish future rooted in shared peoplehood, religious dignity, and mutual respect.

Through every initiative, Rav Aaron lives the Z3 values: unity without uniformity, empowered agency, and the belief that our people must shape our future - together.

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

Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz embodies the Z3 Project’s vision: fostering Jewish unity, diverse voices, and shared agency. Over the past decade, he has taken root in Israeli public life with character-driven leadership that dismantles exclusionary systems and builds inclusive religious pathways.

Breaking Monopoly, Restoring Agency
Rav Aaron catalyzed religious pluralism by building Hashgacha Pratit, Israel’s first private Orthodox kosher certification body, ending the Chief Rabbinate’s century-old monopoly on kashrut services. In 2018, following his advocacy, the Israeli Supreme Court recognized independent certification, empowering thousands of businesses and restoring local halachic autonomy. This pioneering step exemplifies Z3’s commitment to expanding Jewish agency and overturning central control.

Gender Equity Within Halacha
He went on to found Chuppot, Israel’s only Orthodox initiative mandating a halachic prenuptial agreement to protect women from aginut—a feminist innovation rooted in Halacha. By integrating female officiants, empowering women to give a ring and recite sheva brachot under the chuppah, he models how Orthodoxy can center gender equity without sacrificial compromise. Roughly 1–2 couples marry daily through Chuppot, normalizing egalitarian rituals and expanding women’s authority within halachic marriage.

Public Solidarity & Moral Courage
Rav Aaron’s leadership extends beyond theoretical vision into public practice. As rabbi of Va’ani Tefillah in Jerusalem’s Nachlaot, he ministers across the socio-religious spectrum. Notably, each year he marches publicly in the Jerusalem Pride Parade, as reported by Ynet: after previously opposing it, he now declares, “spiritual leaders cannot afford silence.” His transformation and continued presence powerfully signal that religious tradition must uphold dignity and inclusion.

Bridging Communities in Crisis
In times of national trauma - the ongoing Iron Swords war and rising tensions over ultra-Orthodox military exemptions, Rav Aaron is actively building bridges, not deepening divides. While the Israeli public’s trust in the Chief Rabbinate collapses, his work fills the void: offering halachic integrity, inclusive language, and shared ritual as alternatives. He affirms that tradition can heal rather than alienate, even in fractious moments.

Fostering Unity Without Uniformity
Rav Aaron convenes unlikely alliances - religious and secular, Israeli and Diaspora, and diverse genders - through teaching, advocacy, and grassroots engagement. Whether addressing Knesset committees or mentoring individuals, he consistently centers shared peoplehood over ideological purity. His leadership is not dogmatic; it is relational, empathetic, adaptable, and inclusive.

In all this, Rav Aaron exemplifies Z3’s values: he advances Jewish Peoplehood by bringing people together across boundaries; he honors diversity of voices within Judaism; and he enables individual and communal agency through proactive innovation. He doesn’t just critique centralized power… he offers a real, respectful, halachic alternative.

For these reasons, Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz is both a scholar and a steward of pluralist Jewish futures. He is a true Z3-style Bridge Builder: forging pathways between Halacha and justice, tradition and inclusion, Israel and Diaspora, and most importantly, between Jewish heritage and the generations who will carry it forward.