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Purpose & Values

What does Living Torah mean to us?

We believe Living Torah holds three meanings, and we are dedicated in our work to all three.

  1. We believe in steeping our lives in Torah and living it in its broadest sense—continually learning Jewish Wisdom and applying its most relevant and inspiring practices to help us thrive and shape a better world. We aim to inspire people and provide them with the access, resources, and guidance needed to live Torah in this way.
  2. We believe that Torah remains alive, evolving, and adapting in conversation with the contemporary world. Through this dynamic relationship, Torah’s deepest teachings and insights are continually renewed, sustaining, and relevant for this generation and generations to come.
  3. We believe in championing Torah that is courageous and life-giving—a blessing to all people. Understood this way, Living Torah serves as one of history’s great continuous catalysts for social and spiritual innovation, inspiring progress for thousands of years toward a more liberated, just, and peaceful world.

We believe that Torah remains alive, evolving, and adapting in conversation with the contemporary world.

What Do We Do?

Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah seeks to support Living Torah and the application of Jewish Wisdom by working at the systems level to stimulate ideas, shape discourse, and encourage and facilitate collaboration. We go about this work in myriad ways, including:

Core Values

בצלם אלהים B’TSELEM ELOHIM:
Each Person is Made in the Divine Image

We honor the essential dignity, individuality, and potential of every person. We appreciate diversity in backgrounds, experiences, beliefs, and approaches.

חברותא CHAVRUTA:
Dialogue and Partnership

We create meaning together, challenging thinking and building on one another’s ideas. We approach our engagements as partnerships and seek the inclusion of many voices.

קשר KESHER:
Connectedness

We believe in the power of togetherness – family, community, כלל ישראל (Klal Yisrael – the unity of the Jewish people). We place ourselves in the context of a larger whole and take responsibility for the impact our actions and inactions have on others.

“משיח” “MASHIACH”
(Era of a perfect world):
Sense of Possibility

We believe in the perfectibility of the world. We continually reach toward vision, asking “How might we?” We think boldly, address challenges head on, and approach our work with courage and creativity.

“נחשון” “NACHSHON”
(First into the water):
Drive Forward

We embrace new insights, big ideas, and fresh initiatives with an action orientation, learning as we go. We are willing to rise to the occasion when others cannot, do not, or will not.

בשם שמים B’SHEM SHAMAYIM (In the name of the heavens): Strength with Humility

We are aware of our responsibility and strive to use it worthily. We constantly remind ourselves that everything we do is for the betterment of the world.