Alon Goshen-Gottstein is a scholar of Jewish studies and a theoretician and activist in the domain of interfaith dialogue. He is founder and director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute since 1997. He specializes in bridging the theological and academic dimension with a variety of practical initiatives, especially involving world religious leadership.
Personal life
Goshen-Gottstein is the son of Moshe Goshen-Gottstein – a professor of Jewish studies, linguist, Bible scholar, and theologian – and Esther Goshen-Gottstein, a clinical psychologist. The Jerusalem home in which Goshen-Gottstein grew up was open to students of various religions, as well as to visiting clergy. Goshen-Gottstein is married to Therese, who is a close collaborator in his interfaith activities. Goshen-Gottstein has two sons, Elisha and Nerya.
Education and academic career
Goshen-Gottstein underwent religious training and was ordained a rabbi in 1978. For the following thirty years he served as a reserve chaplain in the Israeli army, but he has never practiced as a communal rabbi. Goshen-Gottstein attended Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a concentration in the fields of Talmud and Jewish Thought. He also studied at Harvard University Christianity and religions. He received a PhD from Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1986. His thesis was on the subject "." His PhD was supervised by Ephraim Urbach. He has taught at a variety of Israeli universities. Goshen-Gottstein headed the Institute for the Study of Rabbinic Thought at Bet Morasha College, Jerusalem, from 1997 till 2013, and oversaw conferences and publications in the field. For a decade Goshen-Gottstein was a member of the Shalom Hartman Institute of Advanced Studies. Here, he engaged with contemporary existential issues and became versed in public interfaith conversations, for which he was in charge for several years on behalf of the Hartman Institute. Besides his academic training, Goshen-Gottstein has drawn from other Jewish and non-Jewish resources. He is affiliated with several Hassidic communities and has been deeply influenced by Hassidic teaching and spirituality. He has also published in that area.
Interfaith work
Goshen-Gottstein's spiritual education has included formative relations with non-Jewish spiritual masters and in–depth relations with a broad range of Christian monastic communities. He has shared in the spiritual lives of Christian and Hindu communities and enjoyed the friendship, wisdom, and counsel of teachers from the Buddhist and Muslim traditions. His personal experience led him to found in 1997 the Elijah Interfaith Institute, initially as a consortium of 13 Jerusalem-based academic theological schools. The Institute evolved into a global gathering of premier religious figures and scholars. Goshen-Gottstein’s personal foundations in the field of religious leadership and academic training equipped him to moderate processes of learning and broader public engagement, involving leaders and scholars. His own interest in spirituality across religions and his extensive network of personal relationships have shaped some of the Elijah Institute’s unique programming, leading to research and publication on areas such as “” ; and the study of . His ability to negotiate religious leadership and academic scholarship and to make them address broader publics with novel insights and approaches has made him a voice on global issues related to relations between religions. He has appeared on multiple television shows in different countries, and has published op-ed pieces in different publications and in multiple languages, in addition to his own blogs. His contribution to the interreligious field was recognized by the , that conferred upon him the title "Figure of Reconciliation."
Alongside his academic and interfaith work, Goshen-Gottstein has also recorded hassidic music. His work has been released on the Italian label Amiata Records.
