The Erich Fromm Association of Israel
“The Art of Loving - The Erich Fromm Association of Israel” is a non-profit organization.
The Association was established with the mission of nurturing, promoting, and disseminating the teachings of Erich Fromm in Israel across a wide range of professional fields, with a particular emphasis on the contemporary relevance and practical application of his ideas.
Accordingly, the Association is committed to making Fromm’s core ideas - centered on love and freedom - accessible to the broader Israeli public, while highlighting their connection to the Jewish heritage from which they emerged. In addition, the Association seeks to help bridge the deep divisions within Israeli society - between secular and religious communities, Jews and Arab communities, and between the center and the periphery.
The Association promotes scholarly dialogue and learning groups that foster the development of practical, context-sensitive applications of Fromm’s thought in today’s reality.
It also encourages the implementation of Fromm’s ideas across a variety of domains, including academia, education systems, public institutions, the military, workplaces, and social and community organizations.
In addition, the Association offers psychotherapy provided by experienced practitioners specializing in approaches inspired by the spirit of Erich Fromm.
Giora Keller - Chairman of the Association.
I am a licensed clinical psychologist with over thirty years of therapeutic experience. Over the years, I have worked with a wide range of individuals facing diverse challenges, emotional struggles, and existential questions. My work includes children and families, adolescents, soldiers, and adults - some dealing with trauma, others navigating the complexities of everyday life. Throughout my professional journey, I have found myself returning time and again to Erich Fromm’s understanding of the central role of love in human life - as a foundation for mental well-being and as the basis for meaningful and healthy relationships. Moreover, Fromm teaches us that love, like art, is a skill that can be learned and developed. Our capacity to give and receive love can grow. This insight lies at the heart of a meaningful life - it is a source of hope, resilience, and psychological healing. From a young age, as an Israeli and the son of Holocaust survivors - long before I encountered Fromm’s writings - I discovered the power of love as a force that drives, comforts, and creates meaning. Love has enabled me to connect with what lies beyond myself - with my roots, my family, and broader social circles - while also moving forward and taking an active role: first as a soldier and officer, later as a psychologist, and as a partner and father within the family I have built. Over the years, I have had the privilege of studying and integrating a range of psychotherapeutic approaches into my work, including neo-Freudian psychodynamic approaches, self psychology (Kohutian), hypnosis, EMDR, psychotherapeutic approaches rooted in Jewish thought, Nonviolent Communication (NVC), and more. I believe that this integrative perspective allows me to offer meaningful and tailored support to individuals from diverse backgrounds and with a wide variety of needs. Above all these theoretical and philosophical approaches stands the conceptual framework of Erich Fromm. The humanistic art of loving serves as an overarching lens that guides me both as a person and as a therapist. I see great importance in sharing Fromm’s teachings with the community to which I belong, and I believe that through this work, we can contribute to building a more humane, connected, and compassionate society.