Yakov Nagen

Yakov Nagen was born in 1967 in Manhattan

Yakov Nagen was born on June 17, 1967, in Manhattan, New York, to Ahuva and Azriel Genack. After high school in the United States, he studied at Yeshivat Shaalvim in Israel.

He returned to the United States and studied at Yeshiva University. There he earned a bachelor's degree in Judaic studies, a master's degree in Jewish history and rabbinic ordination. In 2004 he received a doctorate in Jewish philosophy from the Hebrew University, with a dissertation on the holiday of Sukkot.

In 1993 he moved to Israel and studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion. In 1997 he began teaching at Yeshivat Otniel. His books deal with the Mishna, Sukkot, Jewish spirituality and the relation between Judaism and Eastern thought.

Following Rabbi Menachem Froman, he leads meetings between rabbis and Muslim religious leaders, mostly from the Hebron and Ramallah areas. He co-chairs the board of the Abrahamic Reunion and visited Al-Azhar University in Cairo in 2016. He also teaches Judaism in China through the Shofar from Zion organization.

In 2020 he became director of Ohr Torah Stone's Blickle Institute for Interfaith Dialogue. He is president of the Jerusalem Interfaith Center.