Yakir Englander

Dr. Yakir Englander is the Senior National Director of Leadership programs and Senior Scholar at the Israeli-American Council. Originally from the Hasidic community of Israel, Englander left Ultra-Orthodoxy and was subsequently drafted to the Israeli military, where he served in an elite unit tasked with the identification of human remains. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in Jewish philosophy and gender studies.
Dr. Englander has seamlessly integrated his roles as an activist, Jewish leader, and educator with his academic research. He is a Fulbright scholar and has held visiting professorships at prestigious institutions including Northwestern University, Rutgers University, the Hebrew University, the Shalom Hartman Institute, and Harvard Divinity School.
He lives in an intentional community in West Philadelphia and is supporting changes in the Ultra-Orthodox World.