Putting God First:

Dr. Alick Isaacs is the codirector of Siach Shalom (Talking Peace) and teaches at the Melton Centre for Jewish Education and the Rothberg School for Overseas Students, both at the Hebrew University. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he settled in Israel in 1986, combining military service in the IDF with yeshivah studies for four years. He has a PhD in Jewish history from the Hebrew University. He completed postdoctoral research at Bar-Ilan University. He is a graduate of the Mandel “Jerusalem Fellows” Educational Leadership program and of the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Since returning from combat in South Lebanon in the summer of 2006, Isaacs has dedicated his career to peace work that focuses on the spiritual and religious dimensions of Israel’s internal and regional conflicts. He is the author of A Prophetic Peace: Judaism, Religion, and Politics (Indiana University Press, 2011), subsequently published in Hebrew translation (Schocken Books, 2014). He has published numerous academic and popular articles addressing themes related to peace, Jewish and Western thought, and Israel. Isaacs is married to Shuli. They have five children and six grandchildren and live in Jerusalem.