Episode 70: Board Covenants and the Fate of Democracy

About this episode

Rabbi Joshua Lesser discusses the importance of nonprofit boards in Jewish and American life and their role in democracy.

In times of chaos and turmoil, how can we overcome our differences to tackle problems? How can we move from our own individual thinking into the thinking of what's the common good? Rabbi Joshua Lesser discusses the vital importance of nonprofit boards to Jewish and American life. By helping Jewish communities formulate and adopt board convenants, Lesser seeks to use Jewish wisdom to interject a bit of the sacred into the seemingly mundane business of running an organization. Healthy boards, he argues, are not just important for Jewish organizations. They are one of the arenas where people can participate in democracy on a micro level, and potentially reenergize democracy on a macro scale. Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1 This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at…

People in this episode

Guest: Rabbi Joshua Lesser

Topics covered

• nonprofit boards
• Jewish wisdom
• democracy
• common good
• community engagement

Keywords

• board covenants
• Jewish organizations
• democracy
• community
• leadership

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Reconstructing Judaism, CDBaby, Evolve

Books & works: Ilu Finu, This is the Day

More episodes of Evolve

• Episode 71: How Two American Jews Navigate Fundamental Disagreement about Israel with Love and Respect: A Conversation with Rabbi Sid Schwarz and Sam Sherman · January 30, 2026 · 56 min
• Episode 69: I’m Right, You’re Wrong: What Data Reveals About North American Jewish Opinion on Israel, Zionism and Anti-Zionism · July 24, 2025 · 1h 4m
• Episode 68: Ali Michael, Ph.D., on Whiteness, Race and Antisemitism · June 19, 2025 · 59 min
• Episode 67: Rabbi Sid Schwarz on World Jewry, Zionism and the State of Israel · May 22, 2025 · 1h 6m
• Episode 66: Roan Boucher on Anti-Trans Legislation and Christian Nationalism · April 24, 2025 · 1h 12m
• Episode 65: Rabbi James Greene on Aiding Refugees Despite Government Resettlement Pause · March 27, 2025 · 58 min