In 1983, Riskin immigrated to the
Israeli settlement of
Efrat in the
Israeli-occupied West Bank with his family, where he became the founding Chief Rabbi, a position he held until 2020. Over the years, he was joined by many former members of his New York congregation. In Israel, Riskin has established a network of high schools, colleges, graduate programs, seminaries and rabbinical schools under the name
Ohr Torah Stone Institutions with a total student enrollment numbering in the thousands. Riskin has dedicated himself to training a new generation of leaders for the Orthodox Jewish world. To this end, he established a
Rabbinical Seminary and Practical Rabbinics Program to prepare young men with the scholarship and practical skills to become effective spiritual leaders, teachers and spokesmen for Orthodox Judaism. Riskin now has hundreds of former students serving as rabbis and educators in Israel and throughout the world. He has also pioneered the
rights of women in the world of Orthodox Judaism. He broadened women's participation in public religious practices, and declared that women could hold their own celebration of
Simhat Torah. He co-founded a women's college,
Midreshet Lindenbaum (originally named Michlelet Bruria), a prominent
seminary for Orthodox women. In 2014, the first-ever book of
halachic decisions written by women who were ordained to serve as
poskim (Idit Bartov and Anat Novoselsky) was published. The women were ordained by Riskin, after completing
Midreshet Lindenbaum women's college five-year ordination course in advanced studies in Jewish law, as well as passing examinations equivalent to the rabbinate's requirement for men. Marili Mirvis is the first woman to serve as the sole leader of an Orthodox congregation in Israel. Parallel to these institutions, Riskin also established the first ever programs for young men and women from the Diaspora with severe learning and developmental difficulties to spend a year studying Torah in Israel while also gaining vocational training. Riskin is a forceful spokesperson for Jews and Israel, and against anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. As an advocate of religious and cultural tolerance, he has worked to promote good relations with the leaders of the
Palestinian villages surrounding the Efrat settlement. In 2008, Riskin established the
Center for Jewish–Christian Understanding and Cooperation, or CJCUC, the first Orthodox Jewish institution to dialogue with the Christian world on a religious and theological basis. The center, currently located in
Jerusalem, engages in Hebraic Bible Study for Christians, from both the local community and from abroad, has organized numerous interfaith praise initiatives, such as
Day to Praise, and has established many fund-raising initiatives such as
Blessing Bethlehem which aim to aid the persecuted Christian community of
Bethlehem, in part, and the larger persecuted Christian community of the
Middle East region and throughout the world. Since Riskin's retirement as president of
Ohr Torah Stone in 2018, the overseeing of all CJCUC activities has been turned over to
David Nekrutman who has served as the center's chief director since its inception. In 2018, Riskin was awarded the
Bonei Zion (Builders of Zion) Prize for outstanding achievements in Education. ==Controversy==