Rabbi Dr. Zvi Leshem is the director of the Gershom Scholem Collection for Research in Kabbalah and Hasidism, the National Library of Israel, Jerusalem.
Zvi received a BA in History from Columbia University and a BA in Talmud from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He made Aliyah in 1979 and studied in Yeshivat HaMivtar, receiving ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel in 1988.
Zvi served for several decades in senior positions in Torah education in Israel and as a community rabbi. He received his MA in Jewish History and Philosophy from Touro College in Jerusalem in 2002, and in 2007 completed his doctorate, "Between Messianism and Prophecy: Hasidism According to the Piaseczner Rebbe" at Bar-Ilan University.
Zvi's scholarly publications focus on the Piaseczner Rebbe, Rebbe Nahman of Breslov, Hasidic education, the philosophy of Rav Shagar and Gershom Scholem. He is also the author of "Redemptions: Contemporary Chassidic Essays on the Parsha and the Festivals” (2006).
Since 2011, Zvi has served as the director of the Gershom Scholem Collection at the National Library of Israel where he also serves as Judaica reference librarian. He is also a contributor to the Encyclopedia Hebraica, second edition. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife Julie, and they have children and grandchildren throughout Israel.