Shai Held

Rabbi Dr. Shai Held (born 1971) is a rosh yeshiva (Rabbinic dean) and Chair in Jewish Thought at Mechon Hadar. He holds a PhD in religion from Harvard University.

He founded Mechon Hadar in 2006 with Rabbis Elie Kaunfer and Ethan Tucker.

Held attended Ramaz High School and studied at Yeshivat HaMivtar in Efrat, West Bank. Held earned his A.B. from Harvard University in Religion, and went on to earn his M.A. in Jewish philosophy at the Jewish Theological Seminary in addition to rabbinic ordination. He earned a PhD from Harvard University in religious studies; his dissertation is entitled Reciprocity and Responsiveness: Self-Transcendence and the Dynamics of Covenant in the Theology and Spirituality of Abraham Joshua Heschel.

Held worked at the Harvard University Hillel from 1999-2002 as the Conservative Rabbinic Advisor and the Director of Education. He has taught at Meah at Hebrew College, the Rabbinic Training Institute at the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning, and synagogues and institutions across the country. He was also an adjunct professor of Jewish Philosophy, Talmud and Rabbinics, and Informal Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary from 2005-2008. From 2003-2008, Held served as the scholar-in-residence at Kehilat Hadar, an independent minyan in New York City.

In 2006, Held co-founded Mechon Hadar: An Institute for Prayer, Personal Growth, and Jewish Study. He has taught Modern Jewish Thought, Midrash, Talmud, Tanakh, and other topics. He heads the social action program at Yeshivat Hadar, meeting with residents at the Jewish Home and Hospital in Manhattan and training students in bikkur holim (visiting the sick).

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