The Biblical Renewal of the West: Jews, Christians, and the Future of American Civilization

Tikvah—a Jewish think-tank and educational institution—invites you to join our second annual gathering of Jewish and Christian leaders from Friday November 14 to Sunday November 16.

Hosted in New York City, our three-day retreat and Jewish Leadership Conference will focus on how Jews and Christians can work together to build an alliance in faith to fight for the future of the West.  At our November retreat, we are inviting hundreds of spiritual, intellectual, and civic leaders to come together with the following purpose and program:

Experience a traditional Jewish Sabbath—led by America’s preeminent Jewish leader, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik—commemorating the “day G-d rested from his creation” (Genesis 2:1-3).
Hear from leading statesmen and diplomats, thinkers and policymakers, religious voices and cultural leaders as we explore topics on: the defense of religious freedom; the special relationship between America and Israel; the renewal of American education; the future of faith in America and more.
Honor Ben Shapiro, Bari Weiss, and Dan Senor—who model what it means to engage in the battle of ideas as proud Jews and committed Zionists dedicated to defending and renewing America and the West—with Tikvah's prestigious Herzl Prize award.

Tikvah is a 501(c)(3) education center and thinktank dedicated to the flourishing of Judeo-Christian values, American democracy, and Western Civilization. Tikvah is committed to six core principles:

We believe the moral and political teachings of the Hebrew Bible stand at the center of Western and American civilization.
We believe in the preservation and defense of religious liberty, which is our birthright as American citizens.
We believe that all Americans should have the political freedom and economic means to educate their children in a school that reflects their core values and priorities.
We believe that strengthening the culture of the family is one of the most important moral responsibilities of our age.
We believe that the Jewish people are the Chosen people, with a special role in G-d’s plan for mankind.
We believe that America and Israel should stand together as moral, spiritual, and strategic allies.

Rabbi Dr. Meir Y. Soloveichik is a senior fellow and contributor at Tikvah, director of the Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University, and senior rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel, the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. He is also the host of the popular Bible 365, Jerusalem 365, and Ten-Minute Mitzvah daily podcasts. He has lectured throughout the United States, Europe, and Israel to both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences on topics relating to Jewish theology, Zionism and the miracle of modern Israel, the Hebraic roots of America, Jewish and American history, bioethics, wartime ethics, and Jewish-Christian relations. Rabbi Soloveichik's essays on these subjects have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Commentary, Mosaic, First Things, Azure, Tradition, and the Torah U-Madda Journal. His book Providence and Power: Ten Portraits in Jewish Statesmanship was published by Encounter in 2023, and Sacred Time was published in 2024 by Koren's Maggid Press. He is the son of Rabbi Eliyahu Soloveichik, grandson of the late Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik, and the great-nephew of the late Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

Elliot Kaufman is a Wall Street Journal editorial writer and a member of the Journal’s editorial board, for which he has covered the Middle East war since October 7. He speaks regularly with top Israeli and U.S. officials and has published “Weekend Interviews” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz. He has worked at the Journal since 2018, previously editing op-eds and the letters section, and also writes occasionally for Commentary and the Jewish Review of Books. Elliot is an alumnus of Tikvah student programs and lives with his wife and son in New York.

Walter Russell Mead is the Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship at the Hudson Institute, the Global View columnist at the Wall Street Journal, and the Alexander Hamilton Professor of Strategy and Statecraft with the Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida.

He is also a member of Aspen Institute Italy and a board member of Aspenia. Before joining Hudson, Mr. Mead was a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations as the Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy. He has authored numerous books, including the widely-recognized Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World (2004). Mr. Mead’s most recent book is titled The Arc of A Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People (2022).

Dan Senor is the co-author of the New York Times bestselling books The Genius of Israel: The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World (2023) and Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle (2009), which has been translated into more than 30 languages. He is also the host of the Call Me Back podcast.

Dan is a partner and a member of the management committee at Elliott Investment Management L.P. During the presidential administration of George W. Bush, Dan was based in Baghdad for one year, where he served as chief spokesperson for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. For his service, he was awarded the Pentagon’s highest civilian honor—the U.S. Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service—by the Secretary of Defense.

Dan currently serves on the boards of The Paul E. Singer Foundation, Start-Up Nation Central, and the Abraham Joshua Heschel School. He appears frequently on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”, CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS”, “CBS Mornings” and Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom”.

Dan holds a B.A. in History from the University of Western Ontario and studied in the one-year international program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Benjamin Shapiro is co-founder of the Daily Wire and host of the Ben Shapiro Show, one of the top conservative podcasts in the nation. A #1 New York Times bestselling author, Shapiro graduated from UCLA summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 2004, then from Harvard Law School cum laude in 2007. His work has been profiled in nearly every major American publication, and his social media following numbers in the tens of millions. Shapiro’s newest book, Lions and Scavengers: The True Story of America and Her Critics, will be released on September 2 of this year. He is an Orthodox Jew and lives in Florida with his wife and four children.

Congresswoman Elise Stefanik proudly represents New York’s 21st District in her sixth term and is the most senior elected Republican in New York. She was previously the chairwoman of House Republican Leadership. At the time of her first election, Rep. Stefanik was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, and she now serves as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. She was also a founding Member of the China Task Force. Rep. Stefanik is widely recognized for her policy leadership and record of results on national security issues, as well as on domestic issues including economic policy, rural healthcare, constitutional protections, K-12 & higher education, law enforcement, border security, and government accountability. She is one of the most effective questioners in congressional hearings, and her questioning of Ivy League university presidents forced multiple resignations and set the record for the most viewed congressional testimony in history.

Fairfield Inn & Suites New York Manhattan Central Park (closest to Sabbath retreat location)

538 West 58th Street, New York NY 10019

To book a room at the Fairfield Inn & Suites, please click here or call the hotel directly at 212-757-8550 and reference the Tikvah room block.

Please note that our discounted rate expires on October 13, 2025.

The Empire Hotel

44 West 63rd Street, New York NY 10023

To book a room at The Empire Hotel, please click here or call the hotel directly at 212-265-7400 and reference the Tikvah room block.

Please note that our discounted rate expires on October 3, 2025.

Ink48 Hotel

653 Eleventh Avenue, New York NY 10036

To book a room at Ink48 Hotel, please click here or call the hotel directly at 212-757-0088 and reference the Tikvah room block.

Please note that our discounted rate expires on October 14, 2025.

Westin New York at Times Square

270 W 43rd St, New York, NY 10036

To book a room at Westin New York at Times Square, please click here or call the hotel directly at 212-201-2700 and reference The Tikvah room block.

Please note that our discounted rate expires on October 25, 2025.

The Biblical Renewal of the West: Jews, Christians, and the Future of American Civilization

November 14 – 16, 2025 | New York City

Tikvah's Mission and Guiding Principles:

Schedule:

Friday Evening, November 14: Welcoming the Jewish Sabbath

Saturday, November 15: Exploring Our Shared Religious Vision and Values

Sunday, November 16: Jewish Leadership Conference

Confirmed Speakers:

Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik

Elliot Kaufman

Walter Russell Mead

Dan Senor

Ben Shapiro

Elise Stefanik

Bari Weiss

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