Rafael J. Polisuk made aliyah from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and studied in Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav. He co-founded and led the Beit Midrash groups (גרעיני בית מדרש) initiative of Bnei Akiva Israel, teaching and empowering young Torah leadership around the country.
Rafael is a passionate social and spiritual activist for different causes and especially in the Religious LGBTQ front, working to promote tolerance and inclusivity in the Orthodox community and Israeli society as a whole from a Torah rooted perspective.
A big believer in lively and in depth Torah learning as the spiritual and moral hearth of a Jewish life, Rafael is currently studying towards rabbinic ordination as part of the Yashrut smicha initiative, an active member of Mechon Hadar’s beit midrash community and studies Talmud and Religious Studies at the Hebrew University.