Rabbi Gilad Kariv, IMPJ's New Executive Director
The Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism Welcomes its New Executive Director, Rabbi Gilad Kariv, Esq.
The IMPJ would like to introduce its new Executive Director, Rabbi Gilad Kariv. The appointment was officially approved by the IMPJ Board on January 7, 2009 and began on January 15, 2009.
For the last 11 years, he has been an active and committed member in the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ). During the last four years he served as the Associate Director of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC).
He served in the Israeli Defense Forces’ special Talpiot project of the Intelligence Corps. He thereafter graduated from the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University, earning a combined degree with a BA in Law and Jewish Philosophy. After earning his law degree, he spent a year clerking in the State Attorney's office, at the end of which he successfully passed the Israeli Law Bar exam, earning his license as an attorney. Recently, he earned an LLM in Public and International Law from the Northwestern University School of Law.
While in the Hebrew University, he joined the national staff of the IMPJ and founded the Young Adult Leadership Forum, which he headed for three years. As a representative of the Forum, he served on the Board of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ). He thereafter studied in the Israel Rabbinical Program of the Hebrew Union College and was ordained as a Reform Rabbi in 2003.
He first joined the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), which is the legal and public policy arm of the IMPJ, as the Director of the Public Policy and Social Action Department, later becoming IRAC’s Associate Director. As IRAC’s Associate Director, he was responsible for guiding the legal and public policy work, as well as the social action activity of the IMPJ.
He is a very active member in the Constitution Committee, which is working on formulating a constitution for the State of Israel. Moreover, he serves as a Board member of the Joint Institute for Jewish Studies, established by the Jewish Agency following the recommendations of the Ne'eman Commission on conversion. In addition, he is a Board member of Hemdat: The Israel Association for the Promotion of Freedom of Science, Religion and Culture. He also represents the IMPJ at the Forum for Social Organizations in Israel.
He has written numerous articles and position papers on Judaism, religion and state, and community empowerment. His articles appear in leading Israeli newspapers and his opinions are frequently quoted in articles on legal issues, public policy, and social action. He lives in Tel Aviv with his wife Noa and their two daughters.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Iri Kassel, IMPJ’s outgoing Executive Director, for his great contribution to the development and progress of the IMPJ during the last six and a half years. The IMPJ cherishes Iri and sees in him an important leader of the Reform Movement in Israel and worldwide.
