Arnold M. Eisen is the seventh chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary. One of the world's foremost experts on American Judaism, Chancellor Eisen has worked closely for the past twenty years with synagogue and federation leadership around the country to analyze and address the issues of Jewish identity, the revitalization of Jewish tradition, and the redefinition of the American Jewish community. During this past year as chancellor-elect, Professor Eisen toured the country, engaging thousands of Jews in a conversation about ways to reinvigorate the Movement and infuse it with new hopefulness and purpose. He is eager to roll up his sleeves and get to work on the challenges facing JTS and Conservative Judaism.
A product of the Conservative Movement, Chancellor Eisen is a frequent scholar-in-residence at synagogues across America, sharing his vision for re-imagining the American Jewish community. He has regularly served as a faculty member of the Wexner Heritage Program, the Wexner Fellowship, and the Nahum Goldmann Fellowship of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. He has served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency and has long been well known as a passionate advocate of strengthening the connection between American Jews and Israel.
Chancellor Eisen's recent publications include a personal essay, Taking Hold of Torah: Jewish Commitment and Community in America (1997), which addresses the renewal of Jewish community and commitment in America; a historical work about the origins of contemporary dilemmas, entitled Rethinking Modern Judaism: Ritual, Commandment, Community (1998); and The Jew Within: Self, Family and Community in America (2000), co-authored with sociologist Steven M. Cohen, which examines the meanings of Judaism and Jewish belonging to contemporary American Jews. He is currently at work on a book that probes new possibilities for the meaning of Zionism.
Chancellor Eisen received a PhD in the History of Jewish Thought from Hebrew University; a BPhil in the Sociology of Religion at Oxford University; and a BA in Religious Thought from the University of Pennsylvania. Before assuming his role as chancellor, he was the Koshland Professor of Jewish Culture and Religion at Stanford University. He previously served as senior lecturer in the Department of Jewish Philosophy at Tel Aviv University, and assistant professor in the Department of Religion at Columbia University.
Chancellor Eisen is married to Dr. Adriane Leveen, a scholar of Hebrew Bible, and has two children, Shulie and Nathaniel.