“But some students discover the world of policy and diplomacy as gripping subjects that they engage with completely and decide they want to change the world,” continues Friedman, 48, who teaches, among other subjects, American Government, International Relations and Comparative Politics. “My role is to teach them all how to think critically, how to argue and disagree with me, based on facts, not feelings or opinions. In other words, my role is to help them become insightful, reflective, productive adults.”

Contagious Joy

Lizi Bugay was blown away by Friedman, whose American Politics class she took because she was an undeclared major so, why not give it a try? “I became deeply intrigued by the subject and his teaching and intelligence,” says Bugay, laughing. “He is enlightening, informative and passionate. Every time he entered the classroom, he had a smile on his face.”

Friedman is a girl-dad to five, who was reared far and wide from the United Kingdom to Canada to Australia to America. His areas of expertise include Nationalism, Middle East Policy, Interest Groups, Christian Zionism, and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement.

A rabbi who has served in pulpits across the globe, Friedman is the founder of the Center for Torah Values and was the inaugural chair of the National Holocaust Monument of Canada.

The World at Their Door

Friedman’s students understand immediately that they’re getting the real deal, a religious, policy and diplomatic renaissance man whose primary passion happens to be teaching present and future generations. “All the professors in my department welcome argument, questions, differences of opinion, discussion, he says. ”We want smart, engaged, thoughtful students who yearn to broaden themselves, to go out into the world and make it a better and better place. Read The Economist, read The Atlantic, listen to the BBC—it’s all out there for the taking!”