This event is part of Communities in Conversation,  a global learning event commemorating the 2nd yahrzeit of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt'l. The theme of this year's event is 'From Optimism to Hope', and our international guest speaker, Rabbi Dr Mordechai Schiffman, will explore how this theme fits in with R. Sacks' interest in the relationship between Positive Psychology and traditional  Jewish texts and values. 

Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman is an Assistant Professor at Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School, an instructor at RIETS, and the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought. He graduated YU with a BA in psychology, an MS in Jewish Education from Azrieli, an MA in Jewish Philosophy from Revel and Rabbinic Ordination from RIETS. He also has  a doctorate in psychology from St. John’s University. He has been on the rabbinic staff of Kingsway Jewish Center in Brooklyn, NY since 2010 and practices as a licensed psychologist in New York. His book Psyched for Torah: Cultivating Character and Well-Being Through the Weekly Parsha, his academic and popular articles, as well as many of his lectures, are accessible on his website, www.PsychedForTorah.com. His writings have also appeared in the Jewish Vues, Jewish Press, and Aish.com.

His recent book Psyched for Torah is also available on Amazon.