Dr. Ariel Picard is a Research Fellow at Shalom Hartman Institute. He previously served as the Director of the Kogod Research Center for Contemporary Jewish Thought and the Educational Director of the Institute’s Be’eri program.
Ariel has a PhD in philosophy from Bar-Ilan University and conducts research in contemporary Jewish law. He was ordained as a rabbi by the Israeli Chief Rabbinate and formerly served as the rabbi of Kibbutz Shluchot.
Ariel has published widely on issues of halakha, contemporary Judaism, and Israel. His books include: In Human Language – Foundations for Jewish and Israeli Renewal (Hebrew; Carmel, 2019); Seeing the Voices: Tradition, Creativity and the Freedom of Interpretation (Hebrew; Yediot Sefarim, 2016); Halakhah in a New World: Rabbinic Discourse in Modern Society (Hebrew; Keter and Shalom Hartman Institute, 2012), and The Philosophy of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in an Age of Transition: Study of Halakhah and Cultural Criticism (Hebrew; Bar Ilan University Press, 2007). He has also published numerous articles, op-eds, and blog posts concerning these subjects.