Rabbi Dr. Daniel Tropper, Founder and President Emeritus of Gesher, has invested a lifetime in bridging the gap between Jews of different orientations by promoting mutual understanding, tolerance, and co-existence in Israeli society.

He received Rabbinic Ordination from Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and a PhD in History at Yeshiva University.

In 1970, he ran the first Gesher seminar in Kfar Etzion for students from a secular school and a national religious school. Today, Gesher has grown to become a social impact organization, influencing more than one million Israels – secular, religious, and Haredi youth, IDF soldiers, and opinion shapers – to lead the way towards establishing Jewish unity.

In addition to his work with Gesher, Rabbi Dr. Tropper has continued to make a significant impact in the field of Jewish education through various institutions. As assistant to the Minister of Education, he established the Tali school stream, Israel’s largest pluralistic in-school Jewish Studies program that offers educational programming and resources to thousands of children in diverse communities across Israel. He was the first Director of the Joint Fund for Jewish Education in the Diaspora, and he founded both the Atid and Afikim Programs for intensifying Jewish Education and Keren Kehillot, the Roof Organization for Garinim Torani’im. He has published scholarly articles and op-ed pieces in Israel and the Diaspora. He is the author of “Chuda Shel Machat ”, essays on the High Holy Days.

In 2000, Rabbi Dr. Tropper established the Gesher Film Fund, which quickly gained recognition as one of four funds in the country supported by the Israel Film Council. One of the foundation’s most notable achievements is the “Mixed Jerusalem” series, which won the three most prestigious categories at the Israeli Academy of Film and Television: Best Series, Best Actor and Best Actress. In recent years, the foundation has produced series and films that have received critical acclaim in Israel and abroad, including Kathmandu, Get, Shtisel, and more.

Rabbi Dr. Tropper is the recipient of many prestigious awards for his life’s work in promoting dialogue and tolerance among the Jewish people, including the Speaker of the Knesset Award for Jewish Unity, the Avi Chai Prize for outstanding efforts to increase understanding and sensitivity among diverse groups, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Flegg Award for Understanding and Acceptance within the Jewish World, and the esteemed Yakir Yerushalayim from the Jerusalem Municipality.

Rabbi Dr. Tropper is married to Faigie and the father of 10 children.

Rabbi Dr. Tropper made Aliyah from New York in 1969.