Why Abarbanel?
Isaac ben Judah Abarbanel knew the world and served the Jewish people.
Born in Lisbon in 1437, Abarbanel was a statesman, Bible commentator, and finance minister to the Portuguese and Spanish crowns. Unsuccessful in his attempt to overturn the Edict of Expulsion, he left Spain with his fellow Jews in 1492. He continued his career as a princely adviser and Jewish leader in Italy, dying in Venice in 1508.
The Abarbanel Institute is committed to providing teens with knowledge and experience of the world in order to prepare them as Jewish leaders, while our adult courses ensure that learning never ends. Young or old, all Abarbanel Scholars are encouraged to embrace complexity, bringing thoughtfulness, humility, honesty, and understanding to the challenges we face.
Why Now?
Aaron Tugendhaft established The Abarbanel Institute in October 2024 as a way of giving back to the Jewish community after years studying and teaching throughout the world. As Jews face uncertainty anew, and established educational institutions continue to reveal their abundant shortcomings, we need spaces for serious learning free of ideological orthodoxies and political distortions. The Abarbanel Institute strives to be such a space.
You can read some of Aaron Tugendhaft’s thoughts about education in The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Jewish Review of Books.