“Why is the discourse on Israel so Volatile?” A conversation with Yakir Englander

Yakir Englander is the senior director of leadership programs at the Israeli-American Council. He is also the founder of Sacred Roots, New Branches (https://yakirenglander.com/), a private consulting practice. He also teaches at the Academy for Jewish Religion.

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—an experience that profoundly shaped his worldview and approach to life. Englander served as a volunteer director and later as the vice president of the board at Kids4Peace, an interfaith youth movement in Jerusalem.

His personal motto, “nothing human is strange to me,” reflects his ability to connect with people across diverse backgrounds and his deep commitment to understanding the full spectrum of human experience. He is a Fulbright scholar and has held visiting professorships at Northwestern University, Rutgers University, the Hebrew University, the Shalom Hartman Institute and Harvard Divinity School. Englander’s two books on body and sexuality in Haredi and Religious-Zionist communities have transformed the discourse within religious societies in Israel. Englander lives in an intentional community in Vermont, strives to pray and live a mystical life and trains in karate and shamanic practices for cultivating sensitive awareness of the body.