Mishael Zion (Hebrew: מישאל ציון; born 1981, Jerusalem, Israel) is an Israeli rabbi, author, and educator. He is the founder of the Program for Leadership in Israeli Culture of the Mandel Leadership Institute. He also founded the Klausner Community, a partnership minyan in Jerusalem. Zion is a past faculty member at the Shalom Hartman Institute and The Bronfman Fellowship.
He writes for various publications including The Times of Israel, Tablet Magazine. HuffPost, and Text and the City and is a lecturer and commentator on Israeli radio. He hosted a four-episode podcast, Hineni, in conjunction with Beit Avi Chai. In 2013 he was listed as one of ten "Rabbis to Watch" by The Daily Beast.
Early life and education Mishael Zion was born in Jerusalem, Israel to Marcelle Zion, a childbirth educator, and Noam Sachs Zion, a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute. He studied at Yeshivat Maaleh Gilboa and Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, where he received his rabbinic ordination in 2011. Zion received a bachelor's degree in anthropology from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 2008 and a master's degree in Jewish history from Tel Aviv University in 2024.
He was a visiting scholar at University of California, Berkeley and a research fellow at the Tikvah Center for Law & Jewish Civilization at NYU School of Law.
Zion lives in Jerusalem with his wife and their four children.
Professional positions Zion is the director of the Program for Leadership in Israeli Culture at the Mandel Leadership Institute in Jerusalem, a program which he founded.
Previously he was the co-director and head of education for the Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel, now known as The Bronfman Fellowship.
Since 2004 Zion has taught at the Shalom Hartman Institute programs in both Israel and North America. In his last position he was a fellow of the Kogod Center at the Shalom Hartman Institute in North America.
Zion is a founding faculty member of Rikmah, the Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Beit Midrash for Rabbinic Leadership in Israel, set up to support professional rabbis and rabbaniyot-serving communities and schools in Israel.
He also lectures and serves as a scholar-in-residence at synagogues and educational centers and speaks on radio and television programs. He also ran a blog Text and the City.
Published works Zion has written several books and collections that explore classical Jewish sources in modern contexts.
In 2004, together with his father Noam Sachs Zion, Mishael Zion produced a Hebrew-language Haggadah, Halayla Hazeh: The Israeli Haggadah, which aims to integrate modern Israeli narratives into the Seder experience and provide a guide for discussions at the Seder table. In 2024, twenty years after its initial release, a new edition was published. It included reflections and readings about the October 7 attacks, framing the Passover themes of suffering and redemption within the context of contemporary national trauma and resilience.
In 2007 the father and son team co-authored A Night to Remember: The Haggadah of Contemporary Voices) in English. The Haggadah weaves together classical texts, modern commentary, poetry, and stories from diverse Jewish communities, inviting readers to adapt the Passover Seder to contemporary contexts. The book was popular among English-speaking Jewish communities.
In 2018, Zion published Eighteen Talmudic Stories Every Jew Should Know''', a digital anthology produced in collaboration with Sefaria and the Bronfman Fellowship. The project presents classic Talmudic narratives in multimedia formats, including video introductions by Zion and accompanying source sheets.Esther: A New Israeli Commentary, which Zion published in 2019, offers a contemporary interpretation of the Book of Esther, examining its influence on Israeli culture, art, and imagination. It is part of the "New Israel commentary" series published by the Avi Chai Foundation and edited by Avigdor Shinan, designed to provide an Israeli-focused interpretation of books of the Bible, reflecting on themes relevant to modern Israeli life and identity. Other volumes include Song of Songs, Pirkei Avot, Yonah, Ecclesiastes.
In 2024 he edited the book I Promise You, in Hebrew, a compilation of essays by Israeli cultural leaders presented as part of a conference run by the Mandel Leadership Institute. The book highlights reflections on the role of Israeli children's culture during war and especially in light of the October 7 events.
Community involvement Zion is a founder and leader of the Klausner Minyan (Hebrew: מניין קלוזנר), a partnership minyan in the Talpiot-Arnona neighborhood of Jerusalem. Established in the 2010s, it follows the model of halakhically egalitarian partnership minyanim, seeking to expand women's participation in prayer and Torah reading within Orthodox frameworks. Zion is also involved in pastoral and other community efforts in his neighborhood.
Articles and lectures
A Thanksgivukkah Manifesto, HUFFPOST, Nov 2013 What kind of religious Jew am I? The Rachel and Jon kind, Times of Israel, Sept 2024 Five Big Hartman Ideas'', Times of Israel 2013 From Mourning to Resilience: Community Rabbis Face Israel at War "Singing Leonard Cohen on Yom Kippur"
References