Daniel Wiseman is presently studying at the David Shapell College for Jewish Studies / Yeshivat Darché Noam, in Jerusalem, Israel. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Sociology from the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, Canada, his hometown. He is a bit of a bibliophile and somewhat of an autodidact.

He is fascinated by the intersections between design, business, communication, technology, and society. He has a strong interest in brand strategy and the design of brand identity, specifically the ideas of Al Ries and Marty Neumeier. He likes to explore modes of visual communication, including graphic design, photography, interaction design, web design,and video production, and most recently, code as an aesthetic medium (Processing), as well as architecture and how spaces are used in a social context.

He has recently been exploring personal finance and investing. With regard to investing, he is partial to the approaches of Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffet, and Phil Town. He also enjoys writing as a mode of communication.

He is a fan of the Mac platform, and Apple as a company, and is also interested in open source methodologies and technologies. However, he tries not to be ‘religious’ about his computing. He continues to be fascinated by sociology, and he has enjoyed the exploration of the History and Philosophy of Science and Urban Geography.

Daniel Wiseman is committed to observant Halachic Torah Judaism (aka “Orthodox” Judaism) and within this world he leans toward a “centrist” orientation that recognizes the complexity and nuance that exists within Jewish thought and its actualization. He seeks to be part of a Judaism that confronts the challenges of contemporary life within the framework of Torah and Halacha, while recognizing the tremendous need for “insulation” (not “isolation”) in a world that is rapidly embracing social mores that are foreign to authentic Jewish values and precepts.

Judaically, he is fascinated by the conceptual or analytic approach to Talmud study, by the notion of dialectic or paradox within Jewish thought, by particularism and universalism in Jewish thought, by the philosophy of Halacha, as well as Halacha itself, by the concept of Kehilah [Jewish community] in Jewish law and thought, by the responses to the Enlightnment, both historical and at present, and by Jewish education and Jewish communal life in general.

Specifically, he is enthralled by the theological essays of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and by the thought of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch. He is a strong proponent of Rav Hirsch’s oft-missunderstood vision of Torah im Derech Eretz, both as a general philosophy of life and as a specific educational approach. He is a subscriber to Tradition: The Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought. He also finds Jewish demographic study to be of interest. He is currently learning to be a Sofer [Jewish ritual scribe].

During his university studies, Daniel worked as the Director of Media for the Northwest Region of NCSY, a program of the Orthodox Union, based out of Congregation Schara Tzedeck, the Shul that he loves. During his time with NCSY, he created communications materials, was involved with public relations,developed educational programming, and worked on logistics for fundraising gala events and mainstay programming events.

He has also been involved in other aspects of Jewish communal life in Vancouver, including either general involvement with or freelance/pro bono creative or technical work for Congregation Schara Tzedeck, Vancouver Hebrew Academy, the Ohel Ya’akov Community Kollel, Pacific Torah Institute, and the Vancouver Hillel Foundation, among others. While in university, he was a board member of the Jewish Students Association of UBC.

He can be contacted at