David Solomon: Making Jewish Wisdom Accessible and Relevant

David Solomon is a brilliant scholar and highly sought-after lecturer in the Jewish community. His wide range of general knowledge, deep textual scholarship and great sense of humor allow him to be a hugely charismatic educator. We acknowledge David as a Top Jew for his unselfish effort as a one-man teaching machine — in 11 countries over the past few years — with no organized fundraising or institutional support. Watch the videos on Jinsider or visit his teaching site www.inonehour.net.

Solomon
on Being Jewish
 

To be Jewish is important because it provides meaning, and our whole purpose as human beings is to provide meaning to the universe. The Jewish people did not survive through history randomly. We are not a cultural club that pats ourselves on the back for having lasted 4,000 years. That’s not the point. We survived with a purpose. The purpose is not just to write history as survivors; the purpose is to be history. And the purpose is to be a vessel within history that reveals the oneness of the divine. The whole world is created only to reveal the oneness of God and the uniqueness of God — so the uniqueness of the Jewish people is the most appropriate vessel for that revelation. That’s the purpose of being Jewish.
 
Organization Purpose
 
In One Hour is a unique educational initiative, with the teachings and writings of historian, biblical scholar and kabbalist David Solomon, at its nucleus. The project brings together Solomon’s innovative and dynamic educational talks — many of which serve as basic introductions to a range of areas in Jewish studies — with his more in-depth survey courses on Bible and Jewish history, Jewish philosophy and kabbalah. The initiative is a collaborative project between Solomon and his wife Marjorie, who coordinates their programs.
 
Focus
 
Solomon’s aim is to inspire people with a love and passion for Jewish learning by providing them with the tools to pursue and take responsibility for their own Jewish education. The key to enrichment of life through Jewish education is a return to sources.
 
David believes that Jewish history and Hebrew are the two most essential areas of learning for the majority of Jewish people in the world today. He contends that Jewish history is the ultimate vehicle by which to transmit meaning in today’s Jewish world. It provides a context and a framework by which every single Jew can understand their place in the world, their responsibility as a Jew and the incredible role and destiny of the Jewish people — past, present and future.
 
The David Solomon Buzz
 
David Solomon draws sold-out crowds at the JCC in Manhattan. He is a wildly charismatic teacher who offers comprehensive, thoughtful and provocative presentations. The depth and breadth of his knowledge and his ability to present that knowledge in a brief amount of time is simply breathtaking.
 
—  Susie Kessler is Program Director of Makom at The JCC of Manhattan (www.jcccmanhattan.org)
 

 
I first heard about David Solomon at a Limmud conference in the UK in December 2005. His session on “The Whole of Jewish History in an Hour” had generated so much buzz that they decided to repeat it (a rare occurrence). It was a snowy day, and I schlepped halfway across the University of Nottingham campus to get there. The queue extended outside the building, and when I got inside the classroom it was standing room only.
 
David began by plastering the walls with white butcher paper. He drew a timeline of 2,000 years — 500 years on each wall — and, as he began to speak, I had an epiphany: my previous inability to remember historical dates and events was largely due to the lack of visual stimuli with which it had been presented. In the end, I retained more from David’s one-hour talk than from years of history lectures in Jewish day school. I was completely blown away by the experience and knew immediately that we absolutely had to bring David to Limmud NY!
 
— Karen Radkowsky is the founding president of Limmud NY (www.limmudny.com)
 

 
Someone in our community referred to David as “the best in Tor-info-tainment,” as she thought he brought us Torah, information, and much more in an entertaining way. We were so impressed with him that when we took a group of teens to Israel, we made sure to have them meet David and experience “All of Jewish History in One Hour.” David has a unique way of presenting history and the essence of the meaning of that history in a way that you can remember and share with others.
 
— Pamela Ehrenkranz is the Executive Director of The UJA Federation of Greenwich. (www.ujafedgreenwich.org)

 

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