Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz is the President and Dean of Valley Beit Midrash, Founder and President of Uri L’Tzedek, Founder and CEO of The Shamayim V'Aretz Institute, and Founder and President of YATOM: The Jewish Foster and Adoption Network.

 

Rabbi Yanklowitz’s writings have appeared in outlets as diverse as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Guardian, and the Atlantic, among many other secular and religious publications. Rabbi Yanklowitz is a sought-after educator, social justice activist, and motivational speaker, as well as the author of nineteen books on Jewish spirituality, social justice, and ethics. He has published three books with CCAR Press, Pirkei Avot: A Social Justice Commentary (2018), The Book of Jonah: A Social Justice Commentary (2020), and The Book of Proverbs: A Social Justice Commentary (2022).

 

As a global social justice activist and educator, Rabbi Yanklowitz has volunteered, staffed trips, and taught across the world, including in Israel, Ghana, India, France, Thailand, El Salvador, England, Senegal, Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine, Argentina, South Africa, and Haiti. Rabbi Dr. Yanklowitz has also served as a rabbinic representative, facilitator, and speaker at the World Economic Forum in Geneva and Davos. Rabbi Shmuly's religious journey was filmed in the Independent Lens/PBS documentary The Calling.

 

Rabbi Shmuly earned a master's degree from Harvard University in Leadership and Psychology, another master's from Yeshiva University in Jewish Philosophy, and a doctorate from Columbia University in Moral Development and Epistemology. He obtained rabbinical ordination from the Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School and two additional, private ordinations in Israel. He has twice been named one of America's Top Rabbis by Newsweek. In 2016, the Forward named Rabbi Shmuly one of The Most Inspiring Rabbis in America. In 2016, the Forward included Rav Shmuly as one of the fifty most influential Jews. In the same year, Rabbi Yanklowitz was selected for the Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship in Cross-Cultural Leadership and Innovative Entrepreneurship at the University of Cambridge.

 

Rabbi Shmuly, his wife Shoshana, and their four children live in Scottsdale, Arizona. They are also foster parents.