About Man and God and Law: The Spiritual Wisdom of Bob Dylan
Dr. Stephen Daniel Arnoff (formerly Stephen Hazan Arnoff; born November 13, 1969, in Ohio) is a writer, musician, teacher and community builder.
Holding a doctorate in Midrash and Scriptural Interpretation from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America as a Wexner Graduate Fellow, Arnoff teaches and lectures at synagogues, conferences, community centers, universities, and private and corporate convenings around the world, specializing in the nexus of religion, spirituality, identity, and culture.
Formerly a Mandel Jerusalem Fellow, a Revson Fellow, and a Tikvah Scholar at the NYU School of Law, the Forward referred to Arnoff as "the godfather of New Jewish Culture" when he founded the 14th Street Y's LABA, which since 2007 has established Jewish artist residencies in New York City, the Bay Area, Berlin, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, and Istanbul. He has also served as the Chair of the Board for Jerusalem Culture Unlimited between 2017–2024.
Career
Leadership and management positions
Since 2017, Dr. Stephen Daniel Arnoff has been the CEO of the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center where he provides professional leadership for a vital center of education, culture and spirituality in Jerusalem, Israel. In 2015–2016, Arnoff served as the CEO and President of the JCC Association in New York, NY, where he represented more than 120 local JCCs to key organizations and donors in the North American Jewish community and primarily focused on strategic planning and management as well as issues of long-term visioning and positioning of JCCs in the wider community. Arnoff stepped down from this position in order to move back to Israel with his family.
As the Director of Culture, Community and Society at the Shalem College in Jerusalem, in 2013–2015 Arnoff supervised all non-academic student activity. In this position, he built and facilitated community service programs for students, managed cultural and non-academic programs and events, founded a weekly leadership seminar featuring leading figures in Israel and the Jewish world, and partnered with leading Israeli cultural and academic institutions.
In 2007–2013, Arnoff served as Executive Director of the 14th Street Y (New York, NY), where he supervised all the programs and operations of a JCC in the East Village of Manhattan. During this time Arnoff founded and directed the 14th Street Y's LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture. Prior to this period, in 2002–2005, Arnoff served as the Founding Director of Artists Networks and Programming at the MAKOR/Steinhardt Center of the 92nd Street Y (New York, NY). In this role, Arnoff established the MAKOR Artists-in-Residence and was responsible for programming the MAKOR Theater, Gallery, and Lecture Hall. In 2000–2002, Arnoff served as the Founding Co-Director of The Artist Workshop Experiment (New York, NY and Jerusalem), where he created and facilitated intensive Jewish study workshops and public installations, events, and performances by and for artists from multiple disciplines in New York and Jerusalem (funded by the Bronfman Youth Fellowships).
Teacher
Guest lecturer and scholar-in-residence at over 60 colleges, universities, cultural centers, conferences, and synagogues in North America, Israel, and Europe, 2007–present
Faculty at Shalem College, Jerusalem, Israel: Myth, Religion and Popular Culture classes, 2013–2015
Adjunct Lecturer at the Graduate School of the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, NY: Graduate-level courses in Biblical Exegesis, Rabbinic Literature, and Religious Thought, 2004–2005
Scholar-in-Residence at Brandeis-Bardin Institute, Simi Valley, CA: Planning and implementing curricula engaging traditional Jewish text and contemporary culture for young adults, 2001–2005
Published works
His book About Man and God and Law: The Spiritual Wisdom of Bob Dylan, based on his popular podcast on the Pantheon Podcast Network, was published in 2022, and has been called "a revelation". Arnoff writes regularly for The Times of Israel, having served as Manager Editor of Zeek, and a contributor to The Forward, The Jerusalem Post, HuffPost, and more. He was awarded the Rockower Prize for Jewish Journalism for his essay on Philip Roth, and has contributed books on Jewish communal life, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and contemporary spirituality.
Books
About Man and God and Law: The Spiritual Wisdom of Bob Dylan, 2022
Chapters in books
Dylan at Play, 2011
Reading the Boss: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Works of Bruce Springsteen, 2010
Parole Nel Vento. I Migliori Saggi Critici Su Bob Dylan, 2008 (Italian Anthology of Twelve All-Time Best Articles on Bob Dylan)
'I and I' (Parshat Vayishlach, Genesis 32:4-36:42), HuffPost, 2014
Changing the Rules of the Game (Parshat B'ha'alot'kha, Numbers 8:1-12:16), HuffPost, 2015
'That's Why I Love Mankind' (Parshat Noah, Genesis 6:9-11:32), HuffPost, 2015
By the People and for the People (Parshat Ki Tissa: Exodus 30:11-34:35), HuffPost, 2016
Leonard Cohen;s message for the future, The Times of Israel, 2016
Bruce Springsteen Says Make a Friend and "Raise Your Hand", HuffPost, 2017
Bob Dylan Gets the Multitudes to Heaven, The Times of Israel, 2021
Power, powerlessness, and Sukkot in ‘Borgen’, The Times of Israel, 2021
From Dylan to Beyoncé: Spiritual Secrets Revealed, The Times of Israel, 2021
To truly lead, Israeli officials should learn to paint, The Times of Israel, 2022
Santos lies, Machiavelli sighs, and we get the leaders we deserve, The Times of Israel, 2023
The Fringes That Do Not Have to Tear Us Apart, The Times of Israel, 2023
This Year in Jerusalem, The Times of Israel, 2023
Herzl and Lennon and the World As One, The Times of Israel, 2023
A Nation Fit for a King, The Times of Israel, 2023
The Impossible International, The Times of Israel, 2023
Know us by our might and by our kindness, The Times of Israel, 2023
Give Us Our Lives Back, The Times of Israel, 2023
Broken English at Kibbutz Be’eri, The Times of Israel, 2023
Everything You Want for Thanksgiving During War, The Times of Israel, 2023
Mother of Muses, The Times of Israel, 2023
Be Cool or Be Cast Out, The Times of Israel, 2023
In Faith, Cut Out the Middle Man, The Times of Israel, 2023
Like a Diamond in the Dark, The Times of Israel, 2024
Is it the end of a Jewish Golden Age?, The Times of Israel, 2024
Empathy or sympathy?, The Times of Israel, 2024
Purim Is No Joke, The Times of Israel, 2024
Faith in a Taxi, The Times of Israel, 2024
Hope is mandatory, The Times of Israel, 2024
Left Behind at Columbia University, The Times of Israel, 2024
Alchemy in the City of Gold, The Times of Israel, 2024
The World According to John Irving in Jerusalem, The Times of Israel, 2024
'Finally, Finally, Finally, You're Free', The Times of Israel, 2024
New Light, Old Fear in a New Year, The Times of Israel, 2024
Freedom and Nothing Left to Lose, The Times of Israel, 2024
The Fog of War and T’shuvah, The Times of Israel, 2024
Don't Follow Leaders, The Times of Israel, 2024
Here's to the Rabbis, The Times of Israel, 2024
The Crack-Up and the War, The Times of Israel, 2025
A Change Is Gonna Come, The Times of Israel, 2025
Jerusalem, Skinny Legs and All, The Times of Israel, 2025
Find the Helpers, Pull the Espresso, The Times of Israel, 2025
Get Drunk on Virtue, The Times of Israel, 2025
Joy Is the Radical, Obvious Thing, The Times of Israel, 2025
You Really Need a Rabbi, The Times of Israel, 2025
Praying with Our Feet, The Times of Israel, 2025
The Art of Memory, The Times of Israel, 2025
The Parable Is Not Explained, The Times of Israel, 2025
War Children, 2025, The Times of Israel, 2025
Yes, Chef—Feeling Bearish in Israel, The Times of Israel, 2025
Music and performance
Podcaster
The Spiritual Wisdom of Bob Dylan, 3 Seasons, Pantheon Podcast Network, 2021–2023
Beatles vs. Stones 02: 1964 - 'Hold Me, Love Me' featuring Stephen Daniel Arnoff, Featured Guest, Pantheon Podcast Network, 2021
Composer and music director
The Tale of a Boy Who Would Be King, an original rock opera including text and arts curricula interpreting The Book of Jonah, Israel, Europe, and North America, 1998–2003
How They Were Happy, the Yellow Submarine (Jerusalem), 1998
A Simple Story, Gerard Behar Theater (Jerusalem), 1997
Four Entered, an original song cycle based on Talmudic texts describing the four rabbis of the Pardes commissioned for the 25th anniversary of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies (Jerusalem), 1997
Singer, performer and instrumentalist
Yovel, Roots, Common Ground, and solo performances in South Africa, Australia, Europe, North America, and Israel, 1988–1999
Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, Graduated Magna Cum Laude, BA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, 1994
Personal life
Having made aliyah to Israel in 1994 and served in the IDF's Engineering Corps, Stephen Daniel Arnoff lives in Jerusalem with his four children. Dr. Arnoff has volunteered as the Board Chair of Jerusalem Culture Unlimited, an umbrella organization supporting management consulting, strategic planning and execution, resource development, and cultivation of partnership organizations for 50+ emerging arts and culture organizations in Jerusalem (2018–2024).
↑Arnoff, Stephen Daniel (2022). About man and God and law: the spiritual wisdom of Bob Dylan. New York: Morgan James Publishing. ISBN978-1-63195-688-1.
↑Arnoff, Stephen Daniel (2022). About man and God and law: the spiritual wisdom of Bob Dylan. New York: Morgan James Publishing. ISBN978-1-63195-688-1.