Aryeh Ben David

Aryeh Ben David founded Ayeka, Jewish Spiritual Education, in 2006. This initiative came after almost 20 years of work in formal and experiential Jewish educational settings. Aryeh taught at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem since 1987, and was a member of the Senior Faculty and Director of Spiritual Education. He also served as the Rabbinical Educational Consultant for Hillel International from 2004 - 2007, and spearheaded their spiritual initiative throughout the United States. Previously Aryeh served as the Educational Director of Livnot U’Lehibanot from 1991-96. He has been involved in the training of staff of countless organizations and lectures internationally. He is the author of “Around the Shabbat Table, a Guide to Meaningful Shabbat Conversations” (2000) and “The Godfile, Ten Approaches To Personalizing Prayer” (2007).

After many years in the classroom, teaching subjects including Torah, Talmud, prayer, ethics, and interpersonal relationships, Aryeh sought a way to enable students to more deeply engage with Judaism and to explore their spiritual identities. This led to the development of Spiritual Education and the creation of Ayeka.

Aryeh grew up outside of NYC and studied psychology at Vassar College. He came to Israel in 1978, studied at the Meretz yeshiva in Mevasseret Zion and received Rabbinic ordination from the Israeli Rabbinate. He served in the Israeli army and now lives in Efrat, Gush Etzion, with his wife Sandra and their six children.