The Elson Israel Fellowship is made possible through a generous gift from Bill Elson, z”l, whose lifelong vision and legacy were rooted in fostering a strong connection to Israel and preserving the Zionist ideal of a free, democratic, and Jewish state.
Why Tulsa? Why Now?
About the Elson Israel Fellowship:
The fellowship brings Israel’s most innovative thinkers—scholars, visionaries, and advocates—to Tulsa. The fellows will:
Goals of the Elson Israel Fellowship:
Questions? Please email: elson@jewishtulsa.org
Yakir Englander is the Senior Director of Leadership programs at the Israeli-American Council and founder of Sacred Roots, New Branches a private consulting practice. He also teaches at the Academy for Jewish Religion. Raised in Israel’s Hasidic community, Englander left Ultra-Orthodoxy and served in an elite IDF unit tasked with identifying human remains—an experience that profoundly shaped his worldview. He formerly served as volunteer director and Vice President of Kids4Peace, an interfaith youth movement in Jerusalem. Guided by the motto “Nothing human is strange to me,” he connects deeply across diverse backgrounds. A Fulbright scholar, Yakir has held visiting professorships at Harvard Divinity School, Northwestern, Rutgers, Hebrew University, and the Shalom Hartman Institute. His two books on body and sexuality have transformed discourse within Israeli religious societies. Today, he lives in an intentional community in Vermont, practices mystical spirituality, Daf Hayomi, and shamanic embodiment.
Tracy Frydberg is the founding director of the Tisch Center for Jewish Dialogue at ANU – Museum of the Jewish People. Tracy served as a senior advisor to two of Israel’s Ministers of Diaspora Affairs and previously worked as an analyst at the Reut Group focused on Israel-world Jewry relations and delegitimization challenges facing Israel. Before Reut and a short stint in journalism, Tracy served two years in the IDF as a representative to the Palestinian population in the West Bank. Tracy is pursuing a doctorate in contemporary Jewish studies and holds a Master’s in Jewish Peoplehood from the University of Haifa. When not thinking, talking, or writing about the Jewish people, Tracy is running up and down the Tel Aviv coast or swimming in the sea.
Itamar Kremer is an Israeli educator, author, and social entrepreneur with more than twenty years of experience in educational leadership and Jewish peoplehood. He is the founder and director of Israel Education Watch, a national initiative working to defend and strengthen Israel’s public education system and its democratic foundations. A former school principal and senior executive in Israeli educational organizations, Kremer has developed and led programs connecting Israeli identity, Jewish peoplehood, civic education, and social responsibility. He is the author of Kaplan Meets Halakha: On the Way to a New Jewish-Israeli Social Contract, which examines the struggle over Israel’s Jewish and democratic character and proposes a renewed social contract for Israeli society. He is also a lieutenant colonel in the IDF reserves and has served extensively since October 7.
Maia Zelkha is the editor-in-chief of Yad Mizrah, the first literary magazine devoted to promoting Mizrahi and Sephardic creative work. Her writing and research largely focus on the intersections of identity, Diaspora and historical narrative as well as cultural theory. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications including the anthology Young Zionist Voices—featured on President Herzog’s official list of recommendations for books on Judaism—and Brill’s Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World (EJIW) for which she is a contributor. She is a current fellow at the Z3 Institute. Her forthcoming book, Muhammad’s Jewish Wife: The Tumultuous Journey of Safiyyah bint Huyayy and the Jews of Arabia (Wicked Son, 2027) explores the intersection of Jewish and Islamic civilization in the 7th century, and its enduring impact on Jewish-Muslim relations today. Alongside her editorial and published work, she shares essays and journalism on her Substack @thefifthgeneration, investigating stories within and beyond the Jewish world.
