Stephen Daniel Arnoff

Dr. Stephen Daniel Arnoff is a writer, musician, teacher and community builder.
Holding a doctorate in Midrash and Scriptural Interpretation from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America as a Wexner Graduate Fellow, Arnoff teaches and lectures at synagogues, conferences, community centers, universities, and private and corporate convenings around the world, specializing in the nexus of religion, spirituality, identity, and culture.
Formerly a Mandel Jerusalem Fellow, a Revson Foundation|Revson] Fellow, and a Tikvah Scholar at the NYU School of Law, the Forward referred to Arnoff as "the godfather of New Jewish Culture" when he founded the 14th Street Y's LABA, which since 2007 has established Jewish artist residencies in New York City, the Bay Area, Berlin, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, and Istanbul. He has also served as the Chair of the Board for Jerusalem Culture Unlimited between 2017–2024.

Career

Leadership and management positions

Since 2017, Dr. Stephen Daniel Arnoff has been the CEO of the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center where he provides professional leadership for a vital center of education, culture and spirituality in Jerusalem, Israel. In 2015–2016, Arnoff served as the CEO and President of the JCC Association in New York, NY, where he represented more than 120 local JCCs to key organizations and donors in the North American Jewish community and primarily focused on strategic planning and management as well as issues of long-term visioning and positioning of JCCs in the wider community. Arnoff stepped down from this position in order to move back to Israel with his family.
As the Director of Culture, Community and Society at the Shalem College in Jerusalem, in 2013–2015 Arnoff supervised all non-academic student activity. In this position, he built and facilitated community service programs for students, managed cultural and non-academic programs and events, founded a weekly leadership seminar featuring leading figures in Israel and the Jewish world, and partnered with leading Israeli cultural and academic institutions.
In 2007–2013, Arnoff served as Executive Director of the 14th Street Y, where he supervised all the programs and operations of a JCC in the East Village of Manhattan. During this time Arnoff founded and directed the 14th Street Y's LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture. Prior to this period, in 2002–2005, Arnoff served as the Founding Director of Artists Networks and Programming at the MAKOR/Steinhardt Center of the 92nd Street Y. In this role, Arnoff established the MAKOR Artists-in-Residence and was responsible for programming the MAKOR Theater, Gallery, and Lecture Hall. In 2000–2002, Arnoff served as the Founding Co-Director of The Artist Workshop Experiment, where he created and facilitated intensive Jewish study workshops and public installations, events, and performances by and for artists from multiple disciplines in New York and Jerusalem.

Teacher

Guest lecturer and scholar-in-residence at over 60 colleges, universities, cultural centers, conferences, and synagogues in North America, Israel, and Europe, 2007–presentFaculty at Shalem College, Jerusalem, Israel: Myth, Religion and Popular Culture classes, 2013–2015 Summer Faculty at Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies : Midrash classes, 2005–2007Adjunct Lecturer at the Graduate School of the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, NY: Graduate-level courses in Biblical Exegesis, Rabbinic Literature, and Religious Thought, 2004–2005 Scholar-in-Residence at Brandeis-Bardin Institute, Simi Valley, CA: Planning and implementing curricula engaging traditional Jewish text and contemporary culture for young adults, 2001–2005

Published works

His book About Man and God and Law: The Spiritual Wisdom of Bob Dylan, based on his popular podcast on the Pantheon Podcast Network, was published in 2022, and has been called "a revelation". Arnoff writes regularly for The Times of Israel, having served as Manager Editor of Zeek, and a contributor to The Forward, The Jerusalem Post, HuffPost, and more. He was awarded the Rockower Prize for Jewish Journalism for his essay on Philip Roth, and has contributed books on Jewish communal life, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and contemporary spirituality.

Books

About Man and God and Law: The Spiritual Wisdom of Bob Dylan, 2022

Chapters in books

Dylan at Play, 2011Reading the Boss: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Works of Bruce Springsteen, 2010Parole Nel Vento. I Migliori Saggi Critici Su Bob Dylan, 2008

Articles

Seder Toharot , MyJewishLearning, 2003Trees and Their New Year in Rabbinic Judaism, MyJewishLearning, 2003Feminine Aspects of the Omer, MyJewishLearning, 2003The Concealed Face of God, MyJewishLearning, 2003Seder Nashim , MyJewishLearning, 2003Methods of Midrash, MyJewishLearning, 2004A Jewish Artists Service Corps: Creating and Sustaining Community, Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility, 2005MAKOR Artists-in-Residence, Contact, 2005Yamim HaNorai'im Conversation Piece: Prayer, Ta-Shma, 2006Live By No Man's Code: The Religious Forms of Philip Roth's "Everyman", Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture, 2006In Memoriam: Welcome to Bob Dylan's "Modern Times", Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture, 2006Artneuland: Israeli Art without Borders, Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture, 2006A Recipe for Telling the Passover Story, JBooks, 2006South of the Border: Talking Peoplehood with Yossi Abramowitz, Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture, 2006What in the World Are We Longing For?, JBooks, 2006Consumers and Producers: Rethinking the Jewish Cultural Renaissance, Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility, 2006Listen to the New Josephs, The Jerusalem Post, 2007Doctorow Takes on the Creationists, JBooks, 2007The One that Got Away, Haaretz, 2007Jewish World We Need the Eggs, Haaretz, 2007He’s Not There : Talkin’ Bob Dylan Symposium Blues, Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture, 2007Hey Judes: Dylan and the Beatles Transformed, Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture, 2008

Jesus, Bob: To Live Outside the Law You Must Be Honest, The Forward, 2008
Bob Dylan: Prophet, Mystic, Poet, The Forward, 2009
Understanding the Myth and Music of Bob Dylan, The Forward, 2010
Joshua Foer’s Memory Palace, The Forward, 2011
Happy Birthday, Bob Dylan!, The Forward, 2011
Addicted to Aggadah, The Forward, 2012
Penn State Football By the Book of Numbers, HuffPost, 2012
Exodus 13:17-17:16: Unbroken Bones, HuffPost, 2013
Carl Jung, John Lennon and Joseph: The Shadow & the Beautiful Boy , HuffPost, 2013
Stuck Inside Bob Dylan and Llewyn Davis Again, HuffPost, 2014
Bob Dylan in the 1980s: A Never Ending Tour of a Cantankerous Canon, HuffPost, 2014
Leviticus: Keeping Holiness Simple , HuffPost, 2014
'I and I' , HuffPost, 2014
Changing the Rules of the Game , HuffPost, 2015
'That's Why I Love Mankind' , HuffPost, 2015
By the People and for the People , HuffPost, 2016
Leonard Cohen;s message for the future, The Times of Israel, 2016
Bruce Springsteen Says Make a Friend and "Raise Your Hand", HuffPost, 2017
Bob Dylan Gets the Multitudes to Heaven, The Times of Israel, 2021Power, powerlessness, and Sukkot in ‘Borgen’, The Times of Israel, 2021From Dylan to Beyoncé: Spiritual Secrets Revealed, The Times of Israel, 2021To truly lead, Israeli officials should learn to paint, The Times of Israel, 2022Santos lies, Machiavelli sighs, and we get the leaders we deserve, The Times of Israel, 2023The Fringes That Do Not Have to Tear Us Apart, The Times of Israel, 2023This Year in Jerusalem, The Times of Israel, 2023Herzl and Lennon and the World As One, The Times of Israel, 2023A Nation Fit for a King, The Times of Israel, 2023The Impossible International, The Times of Israel, 2023Know us by our might and by our kindness, The Times of Israel, 2023Give Us Our Lives Back, The Times of Israel, 2023Broken English at Kibbutz Be’eri, The Times of Israel, 2023Everything You Want for Thanksgiving During War, The Times of Israel, 2023Mother of Muses, The Times of Israel, 2023Be Cool or Be Cast Out, The Times of Israel, 2023In Faith, Cut Out the Middle Man, The Times of Israel, 2023Like a Diamond in the Dark, The Times of Israel, 2024Is it the end of a Jewish Golden Age?, The Times of Israel, 2024Empathy or sympathy?, The Times of Israel, 2024Purim Is No Joke, The Times of Israel, 2024Faith in a Taxi, The Times of Israel, 2024Hope is mandatory, The Times of Israel, 2024Left Behind at Columbia University, The Times of Israel, 2024Alchemy in the City of Gold, The Times of Israel, 2024The World According to John Irving in Jerusalem, The Times of Israel, 2024'Finally, Finally, Finally, You're Free', The Times of Israel, 2024New Light, Old Fear in a New Year, The Times of Israel, 2024Freedom and Nothing Left to Lose, The Times of Israel, 2024The Fog of War and T’shuvah, The Times of Israel, 2024Don't Follow Leaders, The Times of Israel, 2024Here's to the Rabbis, The Times of Israel, 2024The Crack-Up and the War, The Times of Israel, 2025A Change Is Gonna Come, The Times of Israel, 2025Jerusalem, Skinny Legs and All, The Times of Israel, 2025Find the Helpers, Pull the Espresso, The Times of Israel, 2025Get Drunk on Virtue, The Times of Israel, 2025Joy Is the Radical, Obvious Thing, The Times of Israel, 2025You Really Need a Rabbi, The Times of Israel, 2025Praying with Our Feet, The Times of Israel, 2025The Art of Memory, The Times of Israel, 2025The Parable Is Not Explained, The Times of Israel, 2025War Children, 2025, The Times of Israel, 2025Yes, Chef—Feeling Bearish in Israel, The Times of Israel, 2025

Music and performance

Podcaster

The Spiritual Wisdom of Bob Dylan, 3 Seasons, Pantheon Podcast Network, 2021–2023Beatles vs. Stones 02: 1964 - 'Hold Me, Love Me' featuring Stephen Daniel Arnoff, Featured Guest, Pantheon Podcast Network, 2021

Composer and music director

The Tale of a Boy Who Would Be King, an original rock opera including text and arts curricula interpreting The Book of Jonah, Israel, Europe, and North America, 1998–2003Not of the King Alone, Gerard Behar Theater, 1999How They Were Happy, the Yellow Submarine, 1998A Simple Story, Gerard Behar Theater, 1997Four Entered, an original song cycle based on Talmudic texts describing the four rabbis of the Pardes commissioned for the 25th anniversary of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, 1997

Singer, performer and instrumentalist

Yovel, Roots, Common Ground, and solo performances in South Africa, Australia, Europe, North America, and Israel, 1988–1999Take 5, TV sit-com, Israel Educational Television Network, 1996–1998

Awards and honors

2005: New Voices Prize, Jewish Family and Life! Media
2006: Rockower Jewish Press Award for Jewish Arts & Criticism, American Jewish Press Association

Education

The Tikvah Center for Law & Jewish Civilization at NYU School of Law, NY, NY, Tikvah Scholar, 2012–2013
The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, NY, NY, Doctorate in Midrash and Scriptural Interpretation as a Revson and Wexner Graduate Fellow Fellow, 2002–2011
Mandel School for Educational Leadership Fellow, Jerusalem, Israel, 2005–2007
Beit Midrash Elul, Jerusalem, Member of Beit Midrash, 1997–1999
The Arad Arts Project, Artist-in-Residence, Arad, Israel, 1995–1996
Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, 1994–1995
Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, Graduated Magna Cum Laude, BA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, 1994

Personal life

Having made aliyah to Israel in 1994 and served in the IDF's Engineering Corps, Stephen Daniel Arnoff lives in Jerusalem with his four children. Dr. Arnoff has volunteered as the Board Chair of Jerusalem Culture Unlimited, an umbrella organization supporting management consulting, strategic planning and execution, resource development, and cultivation of partnership organizations for 50+ emerging arts and culture organizations in Jerusalem.