Lori Palatnik
Encyclopedia
Lori Palatnik is an Orthodox Jewish
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

 outreach educator, public speaker and author. She is the founding director of the Jewish Women's Renaissance Project, dubbed "Birthright
Birthright Israel
Taglit-Birthright Israel is a Jewish Israeli registered charity that sponsors free 10-day heritage trips to Israel. Birthright Israel's goals are to diminish the division between Israel and Jewish communities around the world and to strengthen participants' personal Jewish identity and...

 for Women", which has brought over 1,000 women to Israel since the summer of 2009 on a subsidized, 9-day tour-and-learn program. She also appears on her own weekly video blog, "Lori Almost Live", on the website of Aish.com
Aish HaTorah
Aish HaTorah is a Jewish Orthodox organization and yeshiva. Aish HaTorah is actively pro-Israel and encourages Jewish people to visit Israel and connect to the land and its history. Some consider the organisation to reflect a more Religious Zionist philosophy in its attachment to Israel, promoting...

, which is seen by 50,000 viewers each month. In 2010, she was one of 20 semi-finalists for the Jewish Community Heroes award presented by the Jewish Federations of North America.

Biography

Palatnik was born in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. She majored in communications at the University of Windsor
University of Windsor
The University of Windsor is a public comprehensive and research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has a student population of approximately 15,000 full-time and part-time undergraduate students and over 1000 graduate students...

 and earned a special degree in advertising. She began her career in radio copywriting. In 1985 she was a participant on the first Jerusalem Fellowships trip to Israel sponsored by Aish HaTorah
Aish HaTorah
Aish HaTorah is a Jewish Orthodox organization and yeshiva. Aish HaTorah is actively pro-Israel and encourages Jewish people to visit Israel and connect to the land and its history. Some consider the organisation to reflect a more Religious Zionist philosophy in its attachment to Israel, promoting...

, and her experience was so positive that she decided to take time off to learn more about Torah Judaism. She studied at the EYAHT
EYAHT
EYAHT , is a full-time college for advanced Jewish learning for women in Jerusalem, Israel.Geared to unaffiliated, college-educated and professional women aged 22-30 from English-speaking countries, EYAHT introduces women to the basics of Torah Judaism and encourages them to integrate Torah values...

 and Neve Yerushalayim
Neve Yerushalayim
Neve Yerushalayim is a network of Orthodox Jewish colleges for Jewish women, with a based in Har Nof, Jerusalem.Founded in 1970 by Rabbi Dovid Refson as an institution for young college-age female Baal teshuvas , Neve Yerushalayim has since broadened its mandate to offer Jewish studies programs...

 colleges for advanced Jewish learning in Jerusalem, and was introduced to her husband, Yaakov Palatnik, a native of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

.

Since their marriage, she and her husband have both been affiliated with the international centers run by Aish HaTorah. They were the founding Rav and Rebbetzin of Aish HaTorah's Village Shul, a family synagogue in Forest Hill, Toronto
Forest Hill, Toronto
Forest Hill is an affluent neighbourhood in central Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Along with Lawrence Park, Rosedale, and The Bridle Path, it is one of Toronto’s wealthiest neighbourhoods.-History:...

, which they led for 10 years. During that time, Lori also hosted The Jewish Journal, a Toronto television show. The Palatniks next moved to Denver, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, where he worked with Aish Denver and she was educational and program director for the Aish-Ahavas Yisrael project. The couple also co-hosted a weekly Denver radio show called The Palatniks on 630-KHOW.

In 2005, the Palatniks and their five children relocated to Washington, D.C., where Rabbi Palatnik became executive director of Aish Washington, D.C. and Lori became one of eight women founders of the Jewish Women's Renaissance Project, an outreach
Orthodox Judaism outreach
Orthodox Jewish outreach commonly referred to as Kiruv or Keruv , is the collective work or movement of Orthodox Judaism that reaches out to non-Orthodox Jews to believe in God, engage in Torah study, and practice the Mitzvot in the hope that they will live according to Orthodox Jewish law...

 effort established in 2008 which has brought over 1000 women from South Africa, Chile, Mexico, Costa Rica, Canada and the United States to Israel on a subsidized, 9-day "Transform and Grow" tour. The participants must be non-Sabbath-observant
Shomer Shabbat
A shomer Shabbat or shomer Shabbos is a person who observes the mitzvot associated with Judaism's Shabbat...

, have children at home, and be physically and emotionally healthy. The goal is for participants to return home to influence their families, circumventing the need for outreach to their children when they come of age. A study of tour participants revealed that one in three moved their children from public school to a Jewish day school
Jewish day school
A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide Jewish children with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full time basis, hence its name of "day school" meaning a school that the students attend for an entire day and not on a part time...

, the husband increased his Torah study
Torah study
Torah study is the study by Jewish people of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts...

, and the family increased their donations to Jewish charities.

Palatnik has recorded hundreds of Lori Almost Live video blogs for aish.com, addressing a wide range of Jewish and Torah themes, including the soul and the afterlife, Jewish views on marriage, Torah values, current events, and much more.

Palatnik is a popular speaker for women's groups and Jewish conferences in North America, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Central America, South America and Israel.

In addition to her books, she has contributed to the Aish HaTorah anthology, Heaven on Earth and Jewish Women Speak about Jewish Matters.

Kidney donor

In 2008, Palatnik revealed that she had donated her kidney
Organ donation
Organ donation is the donation of biological tissue or an organ of the human body, from a living or dead person to a living recipient in need of a transplantation. Transplantable organs and tissues are removed in a surgical procedure following a determination, based on the donor's medical and...

 to a stranger. She explained her rationale in an article on Aish.com, in a live video performance, and in speeches covered by local press.

Honors

In 2010, she was a semi-finalist for the Jewish Community Heroes award presented by the Jewish Federations of North America. She received 25,208 online votes out of 311,265 votes cast.

Her 2002 book, Gossip: Ten Pathways to Eliminate It from Your Life and Transform Your Soul (co-authored with Bob Burg) was featured on the Dr. Laura show
Laura Schlessinger
Laura Catherine Schlessinger is an American talk radio host, socially conservative commentator and author. Her radio program consists mainly of her responses to callers' requests for personal advice and has occasionally featured her short monologues on social and political topics...

 as a recommended book.

Books

  • Friday Night and Beyond: The Shabbat experience step-by-step, 1977
  • Gossip: Ten Pathways to Eliminate It from Your Life and Transform Your Soul (with Bob Burg), 2002
  • Remember My Soul: What to do in memory of a loved one — A path of reflection and inspiration for shiva, the stages of Jewish mourning, and beyond (with Rabbi Yaakov Palatnik), K'hal Publishing, 2008

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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