Tully Harcsztark

“My parents raised me to live on the border of where tradition and modernity meet. Commitment to Jewish texts and practice can be enriched, they taught me, by openness to the world and to the range of its ideas and cultures. Teaching and learning at SAR has been modeled around this idea. I am deeply committed to helping shape a Modern Orthodoxy that is dedicated to Jewish texts while remaining open to the world; where the integration of these two forces makes Judaism stronger than it would otherwise be; where we are proud of our particularism yet resist insularity; where there is a spirit of respect for the many voices that make up our community. I believe this to be a most noble mission.”

Rabbi Tully Harcsztark is the founding Principal of SAR High School. In that role, he developed the school’s vision and mission and led the design of the original building, which utilized an open educational learning environment. His concept of the “Grand Conversation,” an interdisciplinary notion that Torah shapes our view of the world and the world that we live in guides our understanding of Torah, has been a cornerstone of SAR High School since its inception. In his role, he manages the budget, hires and oversees staff, leads the administrative team, and guides the professional and educational culture of the school.

Rabbi Harcsztark grew the staff at SAR High School from eight to 110 members and increased enrollment from 60 to 525 students. He has developed robust programming for the school, such as the Fine Arts program and a Beit Midrash Fellows program, in which college graduates study Torah with small groups of high school students. Last year, Rabbi Harcsztark opened The Belda Kaufman Lindenbaum Machon Siach, a faculty research center that strives to transform the school into a “thinking institution” and to expand that notion in cooperation with other schools. Machon Siach works to cultivate a field of educational scholarship around issues central to Jewish education, curriculum, and culture. It is focused on integrating deep knowledge and understanding of Jewish texts and practice with the opportunities and challenges afforded by Western culture.

Previously, Rabbi Harcsztark was the Associate Principal of Judaic Studies at SAR Academy, a position he held from 1993 to 2001. In this capacity, he oversaw the first through eighth grade Judaic Studies curriculum, hired and managed staff, oversaw the elementary grades Tefillah program, and taught two Tanakh classes each year. During his tenure, Rabbi Harcsztark placed an emphasis on teacher development and growth, creating a collaborative environment across grades through team meetings and the introduction of a co-teaching model in the lower grades.

From 1994 to 1998, Rabbi Harcsztark served as the Rabbi of Congregation Keter Torah in Teaneck, NJ. As Rabbi, he delivered Shabbat sermons and classes, taught a weekly children’s Mishna class, and developed a robust youth program. Under his leadership, family membership grew from 35 to 120. Before joining Congregation Keter Torah, Rabbi Harcsztark was a member of the Judaic Studies faculty at The Frisch School, where he was a full-time Talmud and Tanakh teacher and an admissions officer from 1988 to 1993.

In 2000, Rabbi Harcsztark co-founded the Davar Institute, an intellectual community offering lectures, programs, and events in a Modern Orthodox context. At Davar, he also served as Lead Scholar-in-Residence and Co-Director of Programming. Rabbi Harcsztark has authored numerous articles on topics such as American and Jewish law, Modern Orthodox education, feminism and the role of women in Modern Orthodoxy, and Zionism.

Rabbi Harcsztark graduated with a B.A. in Computer Programming from Yeshiva University in 1987 and received Rabbinic Ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary in 1989. In 1993, he completed an M.A. in Medieval Jewish History from the Bernard Revel Graduate School at Yeshiva University.