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North American Values Institute (NAVI) vs. transgender people

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The North American Values Institute (NAVI) is an American organization opposed to critical social justice movements. It was previously known as the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values.

note: for the anti-trans group with a name similar to NAVI’s former name, see Institute for Liberal Values.

Background

The Jewish Institute for Liberal Values was founded in May 2021. It originally focused on “the growing imposition of radical social justice ideology inside and outside the Jewish community.” Following rebranding in response to rising antisemitism, their mission was “to promote American civic values and counter ideological extremism in K-12 schools.”

Activism

In 2021, JILV released an open letter titled “A letter to our fellow Jews on equality and liberal values,” dubbed the “Jewish Harper’s letter.” It was signed by many leading lights in the so-called “intellectual dark web” movement of anti-transgender activists and included Bion Bartning, Jonathan Haidt, Lee Jussim, James Kirchick, Pamela Paresky, Steven Pinker, Dave Rubin, Abigail Shrier, Christina Hoff Sommers, Nadine Strossen, Eric Weinstein, Bari Weiss, and Cathy Young

Original signatories

  • Bion Bartning | Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR)
  • Emily Barton | Des Moines
  • David L. Bernstein | Founder, Jewish Institute for Liberal Values
  • David E. Bernstein | University Professor, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
  • Daniel Bouskila | Rabbi, Sephardic Educational Center
  • D. Malcolm Carson | Pacifica, California
  • Mona Charen | Policy Editor, The Bulwark
  • Eliot Cohen | Dean, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
  • Mark Dratch | Executive Vice President, Rabbinical Council of America, New York, NY
  • Joel Finkelstein | Director Network Contagion Research Institute
  • Blake Flayton | Co-founder, New Zionist Congress
  • Daniel Gordis | Shalem College; Jerusalem, Israel
  • Jonathan Greenberg | Jack Miller Family Foundation
  • Jonathan Haidt | New York University – Stern School of Business
  • Samantha Harris | Samantha K. Harris, Esq., Philadelphia, Pa.
  • Moshe Hauer | Executive Vice President, Orthodox Union
  • David Ingber | Founder and Senior Rabbi, Romemu
  • Lee Jussim | Distinguished Professor of Psychology
  • David Kaufman | Rabbi, Des Moines, Iowa
  • James Kirchick | Writer
  • Ben Kramer | Rabbi, Moriah Congregation, Deerfield, Illinois
  • Josh Kraushaar | Annandale, VA
  • Liel Leibovitz | Editor at Large, Tablet Magazine, New York, NY
  • Yuval Levin | American Enterprise Institute
  • Holli Levitsky | Los Angeles, CA
  • Nicole Levitt | Domestic Violence Attorney Philadelphia, PA
  • Bethany Mandel | Editor, Ricochet and Columnist, Forward; Silver Spring, MD
  • Seth Mandel | Executive Editor, Washington Examiner magazine
  • Daniel Newman | Jewish Institute for Liberal Values, Columbus, OH
  • Monica Osborne | Writer and Scholar of Jewish Studies
  • Pamela Paresky | Psychologist
  • Steven Pinker | Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
  • Scott Roland | Rabbi, Scott B. Roland, Beachwood, Ohio
  • Thane Rosenbaum | Distinguished University Professor, Touro College, New York, NY
  • Dave Rubin | The Rubin Report
  • Jeffrey Salkin | Rabbi, Temple Israel, West Palm Beach, FL
  • Hal Schevitz | Rabbi, Congregation Or Atid, Henrico, VA
  • Ira Sheskin | Hollywood, FL
  • Maxim D. Shrayer | Brookline & South Chatham, MA
  • Abigail Shrier | Independent Journalist
  • Joshua Snitzer | Student Leader
  • Christina Hoff Sommers | Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
  • Bret Stephens | Op-ed columnist, The New York Times
  • Nadine Strossen | John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita, New York Law School – New York, NY
  • Izabella Tabarovsky | Scholar, writer/journalist
  • Gil Troy | Distinguished Scholar of North American History, McGill University
  • Aaron Weil | Executive director and CEO Central Florida Hillel, Orlando Fla
  • Eric Weinstein Ph.D. | Host of The Portal Podcast / Managing Director, Thiel Capital
  • Bari Weiss | Los Angeles
  • David Wolpe | Sinai Temple, Los Angeles
  • Cathy Young | Arc Digital

Concerned Friends of The American Jewish Community (Signatories)

  • Adv. Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Former Member of Knesset
  • Michael Oren | Former ambassador, MK, Deputy Minister, Jewish Journalist/Writer
  • Natan Sharansky | Former Head of the Jewish Agency

People

Team

  • David Bernstein
  • Alan Gill
  • Mika Hackner
  • Daniel Newman
  • Natan Ostro
  • Judy Peter
  • Tikvah Shacter
  • Clifford Smith
  • Sharon Sorkin
  • Dana Stangel-Plowe
  • Joshua Weiner

Board

  • David Bernstein
  • Robert “Bobby” Casper
  • Harrison Denman
  • Misha Galperin
  • Amy Gralwer
  • Samantha Harris
  • Greg Maurer
  • Rebecca Roiphe
  • Brandy Shufutinsky
  • Phil Siegel
  • Billy Weinstein

Advisory Council

Policy Council

  • Ben Austin
  • David E. Bernstein
  • Julie Brandt
  • Harrison Denman
  • Tal Fortgang
  • David Goldberg
  • Susan Greene
  • Anna Jenefsky
  • Roberta Kwall
  • Rita Nissan Magasiner
  • Greg Maurer
  • Zachary Needell
  • Rebecca Roiphe
  • Liz Shafran
  • Ilya Shapiro

References

Cohen, Haley (February 4, 2025). Jewish Institute for Liberal Values rebrands in response to changing ideological tides. Jewish Insider https://jewishinsider.com/2025/02/jewish-institute-for-liberal-values-rebranding-north-american-values-institute/

Rosenfeld, Arna (May 4, 2021). Jewish ‘Harper’s letter’ decries lack of dissent in racial justice movement. Forward https://forward.com/news/468968/jewish-harpers-letter-decries-lack-of-dissent-in-racial-justice-movement/

Selected publications by NAVI

(). A letter to our fellow Jews on equality and liberal values. https://jilv.org/be-heard/

Bernstein, David (April 22, 2021). Ten Ways Woke Ideas Spread and Stick. https://jilv.org/ten-ways-woke-ideas-spread-and-stick/ [archive]

Tobin, Jonathan S. (March 9, 2021). Can liberalism be saved from cancel culture? https://jilv.org/can-liberalism-be-saved-from-cancel-culture/ [archive]

Resources

North American Values Institute (navivalues.org)

Jewish Institute for Liberal Values (jilv.org) [archive]

Facebook (facebook.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

  • NAVI
  • linkedin.com/company/navivalues

YouTube (youtube.com)

Linktree (linktr.ee)