Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary

Roshei Yeshiva

RIETS has been blessed with an eminent array of Talmudic lights. Until a generation ago, such leaders came from across the seas. Today, nearly all of our senior roshei yeshiva are from our own ranks. American-born and college-bred, they continue the highest standards of learning that have exemplified the beit midrash. YUTorah.org offers more than 35,000 shiurim via webcast in audio, video and text formats by our Roshei Yeshiva and other YU luminaries

 

Rabbi Elchanan Adler
Eva, Morris, and Jack K. Rubin Memorial Chair in Rabbinics
Rabbi Elchanan Adler has served since 1998 as a Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, where he occupies the Eva, Morris and Jack Rubin Chair in Rabbinics. His affiliation with Yeshiva began in 1988 as a fellow of the prestigious Gruss Kollel Elyon. While there, he edited Volumes 3 and 4 of Beit Yosef Shaul, and received the Imrei Shefer writing award. Prior to his appointment as a rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Adler served as a shoel u’meishiv/sgan mashgiach (mentor/counselor to students). An accomplished speaker and writer, Rabbi Adler has lectured in communities across the country and is the author of a number of seforim including: Sefer Mitzvat HaShabbat (on the evolution of the mitzva of Shabbat, 2008), Yerach Tov (on Birkat HaChodesh, OU Press, 2014,) Asher Chanan (Discourses and Essays), Eis Lechenina (on the Shabbos Musaf amida) and Tzvi Tifara (on Anim Zemiros), as well as numerous Torah articles in both Hebrew and English on diverse topics of Jewish thought. Rabbi Adler also served as co-editor of the Torah journal, Or HaMizrach, from 2003 to 2006, overseeing the publication of seven issues of the Journal. Before joining Yeshiva, Rabbi Adler studied at Yeshivas Beis Yosef-Novardok, Mirrer Yeshiva and Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem, where he received semikha (rabbinic ordination) from Rav Dovid Feinstein. Rabbi Adler holds a BA summa cum laude in psychology from CUNY and an MS in secondary Jewish education from Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, where he received the Axelrod Scholarship Award for Academic Excellence. Rabbi Adler’s shiurim are known for their substantive content and organized presentation. His talks often combine rigorous halachic analysis with practical psychological insight. To purchase any of his seforim, please contact Rabbi Adler at eadler1@yu.edu. The English edition of Yerach Tov is available for online purchase on the OU Press website.
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Rabbi Assaf Bednarsh
Ruth Buchbinder Mitzner Chair in Talmud and Jewish Law
Rabbi Assaf Bednarsh received his semicha from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, an affiliate of Yeshiva University. He holds a B.A. from Princeton University and an M.A. in Jewish History from Yeshiva University. Prior to his aliyah in 2004, he served as a Maggid Shiur and Assistant Director of Yeshiva University’s Graduate Program for Women in Advanced Talmudic Studies, and as a Rebbe in TMSTA – Yeshiva University High School. He currently holds the Ruth Buchbinder Mitzner Chair in Talmud and Jewish Law at Yeshiva University’s RIETS Kollel in Jerusalem, and teaches at Yeshivat Har Etzion. He lives in Alon Shevut with his wife Leora and their seven children.
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Rabbi Eliyahu Ben-Haim
Maxwell R. Maybaum Memorial Chair in Talmud and Sephardic Codes (Halacha)
Rabbi Eliyahu Ben-Haim is a Sephardi rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and Orthodox halachist. He is the Av Beit Din (head of the rabbinical court) of Mekor Haim in Queens, New York, and a prominent leader of New York's Sephardi Jewish community.
Contents. Born in Israel, Rabbi Ben-Haim studied at Yeshivat Porat Yosef, where he was recognized as a prodigy with a distinguished memory. He attended the shiur of Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul and received semicha (rabbinic ordination) from Rabbi Ezra Attia and other great Rabbis at the age of 17, he was tested on the entire Shulchan Aruch. In Porat Yosef, Rabbi Ben-Haim fostered a close relationship with Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who studied Even Ha'ezer with him.
In 1962, at the age of 22, he was appointed maggid shiur at Yeshiva Beth Harashal in Jerusalem. Five years later, he became the rosh yeshiva of that yeshiva. In 1973 he began teaching at the Lifshitz Teachers Seminary in Jerusalem. In 1975 he was sent by the Jewish Agency to serve as a rabbi in Tehran, where he hosted Rabbi Ovadia Yosef during his historic trip to Iran. In Tehran, Rabbi Ben-Haim began serving the local community of Mashadi Jews as a rabbi. In 1979, in the wake of the Iranian Revolution, he came with his family to the United States and served as the chief rabbi of the Mashadi Persian Jewish community of Long Island (UMJCA). Since 1993, he has lectured at Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan (RIETS) at Yeshiva University.
Rabbi Ben-Haim was considered a close friend of Mordechai Eliyahu and delivered many eulogies for him. Rabbi Ben-Haim runs the Beth Din Mekor Haim, there he addresses the needs of the Queens Jewish community in matters of marriage, divorce, conversion, civil law, and kosher supervision. Rabbi Ben-Haim runs a Kolel affiliated with the Beth Din as well. One of Rabbi Ben-Haim's students is Avraham Gaon, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Etzion in Fresh Meadows, Queens.
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Rabbi Yosef Blau
Mashgiach Ruchani
Rabbi Blau earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1959 from Yeshiva College, the men's undergraduate, liberal arts and sciences division of the University. He earned a Masters of Science degree at the University’s Belfer Graduate School of Science in 1960, and was ordained at Yeshiva University's affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) in 1961.
Rabbi Blau was appointed Mashgiach Ruchani (spiritual guidance counselor) at RIETS in 1977. Rabbi Blau is also the spiritual guidance counselor for students at the University's undergraduate schools and colleges for men.
In communal life, Rabbi Blau served as national president of Yavneh, the National Religious Jewish Students Association, and as a member of that organization's National Advisory Board. He also served as vice president of the National Conference of Yeshiva Principals. He also serves as the President of the Religious Zionists of America.
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Rabbi J. David Bleich
Herbert and Florence Tenzer Chair in Jewish Law and Ethics
Rabbi Dr. Bleich is an authority on Jewish law and ethics and bioethics. He is a professor of Talmud (Rosh Yeshiva) at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, an affiliate of Yeshiva University, as well as head of its postgraduate institute for the study of Talmudic jurisprudence and family law.
Dr. Bleich is the author of Jewish Bioethics; With Perfect Faith: Foundations of Jewish Belief; Contemporary Halakhic Problems (five volumes); Time of Death in Jewish Law; Judaism and Healing; Bioethical Dilemmas (two volumes); and Be-Netivot ha-Halakhah (three volumes). He has written extensively on the applications of Jewish law to contemporary social issues and on the interface of Jewish law and the American legal system.
He is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, a postdoctoral fellow at the Hastings Center, fellow of the Academy of Jewish Philosophy, and a member of the Governor’s Commission on Life and the Law.
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Rabbi Zevulun Charlop
Dean Emeritus, Special Advisor to the President for Yeshiva Affairs
Rabbi Zevulun Charlop, dean emeritus of RIETS, is an authority on Torah and Talmud and a lecturer in American history. He has authored numerous scholarly essays, including “The Making of Orthodox Rabbis” in Encyclopedia Judaica and “G-d in History and Halakha from the Perspective of American History.”
In May 2008, Rabbi Charlop received Yeshiva’s Presidential Medallion in recognition of his stewardship of RIETS. Under his distinguished leadership of more than 35 years, the seminary experienced enormous growth, graduating thousands of rabbis, educators and Jewish scholars.
Rabbi Charlop serves as one of RIETS’ masmichim [those who administer ordination exams] and maintains his special relationship with the Kollelei Elyon.
Rabbi Charlop is editor of three novellae on Torah and Talmud by his late father, the noted Rabbi Jechiel Michael Charlop.
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Rabbi Yitzchok Cohen
Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen, born in the Midwest and educated at Yeshivas Torah Vodaath and Yeshiva University, is a well-known Mussar personality who has been inspiring hundreds of students as a Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan and as Rosh Kolllel at Camp Morasha for over forty years. His impassioned message of devotion to G-d and uncompromising loyalty to Truth has influenced the lives of countless students in an inspiring way.
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Rabbi Daniel Feldman
Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman is a Rosh Yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University, as well as an instructor in the Sy Syms School of Business, and serves as the Executive Editor of the RIETS initiative of YU Press. He is an alumnus of Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh and received his ordination (Yoreh Yoreh and Yadin Yadin) from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, where he was a fellow of the Bella and Harry Wexner Kollel Elyon.
Rabbi Feldman is the author of numerous seforim including: “The Right and The Good: Halakhah and Human Relations” (Jason Aronson, 1999; expanded edition, Yashar Books, 2005), and “Divine Footsteps: Chesed and the Jewish Soul” (Yeshiva University Press, 2008) as well as three volumes of Talmudic essays entitled Binah BaSefarim, which have been published with the approbations of R. Avraham Schapira, R. Ovadiah Yosef, R. Natan Gestetner, R. Zalman Nechemiah Goldberg, R. Asher Weiss. and others.
Rabbi Feldman is the co-editor of nine volumes of Talmudic essays and Jewish Thought and serves on the editorial board of Tradition, and has also written for publications such as Jewish Action and the Oxford Handbook of Judaism and Economics He is a frequent lecturer in locations across America and abroad.
Rabbi Feldman is the spiritual leader of Ohr Saadya of Teaneck, NJ, where he resides with his wife, Leah, and their children.
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Rabbi Menachem Genack
Rabbi Genack is a close disciple of Rabbi Joseph N. Soloveitchik, zt’l, from whom he received semicha yoreh yoreh dadin yadin. In his semicha, the Rav, zt’l, wrote: “He dives to the depths of the halacha and emerges with pearls and jewels. Not every day does one encounter a scholar of his caliber.” Rabbi Genack aided the Rav in editing the Rav’s Shiurim l’Zecher Aba Mori. Rabbi Menachem Genack has been the spiritual leader of Congregation Shomrei Emunah since 1985.
He also serve as the CEO of the Orthodox Union Kosher Division overseeing the certification program of some 4,500 food production facilities in 68 countries around the world. In addition, he gives a Yoreh Deah shiur for ordination students at Yeshiva University.
Himself the author of three halachic works: Birkat Yitchak, Gan Shoshanim, and Chazon Nachum, Rabbi Genack is the co-editor of the Torah journal Mesorah. He also edited Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, Man of Halacha, Man of Faith, has published over 180 articles on Jewish thought and law, and serves as a member of Tradition’s editorial board.
Rabbi Genack is a founding Chairman of NORPAC, a pro-Israel political action committee that has grown to be the biggest pro-Israel PAC in the country. He also serves on the executive committee of AIPAC
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Rabbi Meir Goldwicht
Joel and Maria Finkle Visiting Israeli Rosh Yeshiva
Rabbi Goldwicht, a prominent Israeli scholar, educator, and a Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva University's Mazer School of Talmudic Studies, is the head of the new Stone Beit Medrash Program.
Rabbi Goldwicht joined YU as a Rosh Yeshiva at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) and the Mazer Yeshiva Program. He received semicha from the renowned rabbinic authorities Rabbi Zalman Nehemia Goldberg in 1980, and HaRav HaGaon Betzallel Zolti Zt"l chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, and Rabbi Ovidyah Yosef, HaRav Rashi of Israel. Rabbi Goldwicht has been a Ram at Yeshiva Kerem B'Yavneh, and has given shiurim extensively at Stern College, all over the metropolitan area, and in Israel.
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Rabbi David Hirsch
Eva, Morris, and Jack K. Rubin Memorial Chair in Rabbinics
Rabbi Hirsch is a 1990 graduate of Yeshiva College, where he majored in computer science. Upon graduation from YC, Rabbi Hirsch received the Rothman Award for Excellence in Talmud. He earned his M.S. degree in Jewish Education from Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration in 1993. That same year, he was ordained at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS). After Rabbi Hirsch was granted semikhah (rabbinic ordination) from RIETS, he was named a fellow of the Gruss Kollel Elyon.
Rabbi Hirsch has taught Talmud and halakhah (Jewish law) and Jewish Thought in the Stone Beit Midrash Program at YU and was appointed Rosh Yeshiva on June 7, 2000. He also serves as an assitant to the Rosh Kollel of the Katz Kollel.
A native of Peoria, Illinois, he is married to Miriam Hirsch. They have five children and live in Passaic, NJ, where he is the rav of Kehilas Beis Yosef.
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Rabbi David Horwitz
Rabbi Dovid Lifshitz Chair in Talmud
Rabbi David Horwitz is a rosh yeshiva and the Rabbi Dovid Lifshitz Professor of Talmud at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University. He also is an instructor of Jewish history and Jewish philosophy at Yeshiva College and lectures in varius communities. In 1997, Rabbi Horwitz received Yeshiva’s 13th Annual Moshe and Madelaine Baumel Judaic Faculty Incentive Award, which honors outstanding Jewish studies educators at the University and RIETS. Rabbi Horwitz is an alumnus of Yeshiva University High School for Boys (where he won the National Bible Contest, Chidon Hatanach), Yeshiva College, Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, and received his semikha (rabbinic ordination) from RIETS, where he was a fellow of the Gruss Kollel Elyon.
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Rabbi Aharon Kahn
Joel Jablonski Chair in Talmud and Codes
Rabbi Aharon Kahn was named Joel Jablonski Professor of Talmud and Codes at Yeshiva University’s affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) in 1988. A specialist in rabbinic law, Rabbi Kahn was ordained at RIETS in 1969 and later earned Semikhah Yadin Yadin, the highest level of rabbinic ordination, from the late Torah sages Rabbi Mendel Zaks and Rabbi Moshe Duber Rivkin. For 20 years, he studied with the late, revered Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Leib Merkin Distinguished Professor of Talmud and Jewish Philsophy at RIETS, who was considered the foremost authority on Halakhah (Jewish law) and chief mentor and inspiration of authentic Jewish leadership on this continent. For ten of those years, he was Rabbi Soloveitchik’s assistant. Rabbi Kahn was appointed Rosh Kollel of RIETS’ prestigious Kollel Elyon at its inception and served in that position from 1983 to 1998. At RIETS, Rabbi Kahn was co-editor of the University’s Centennial Torah volume, Yevul Hayovlot, which contained a sampling of the Torah scholarship of Yeshiva’s roshei yeshiva since its inception. He is also the author of nine volumes spanning the entire range of Jewish scholarship. Rabbi Kahn completed eighteen year tenure as spiritual leader of the Downtown Talmud Torah Synagogue on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 1987. He then moved to the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn where he established Knesseth Bais Avigdor, a unique congregation that provides opportunities for lay people to engage in serious Torah study on a daily basis.
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Rabbi Eliakim Koenigsberg
Rabbi Eliakim Koenigsberg is a rosh yeshiva in the Yeshiva Program/Mazer School of Talmudic Studies at Yeshiva College of Yeshiva University. Rabbi Koenigsberg was a chaver (fellow) of the Gruss Kollel Elyon and previously served for five years as rebbe (instructor) in the Stone Beit Midrash Program. Rabbi Koenigsberg is a 1988 alumnus of Yeshiva College, from which he graduated summa cum laude. He received ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary in 1992. A sought-after lecturer, he has served RIETS and Yeshiva in other capacities as well: as director of an honors seminar in Sefer Shev Shmaitsa; as sgan mashgiach/shoeI u’meishiv (mentor and guidance advisor to students); director of RIETS’ Presidential B’kiut Program; rosh kollel of Yeshiva’s summer kollel in Silver Spring, Md.; shoel u’meishiv for 10th-grade students at the Yeshiva University High School for Boys; and as a teaching assistant there for 11th-grade students. He is the author of two annotated volumes of selected shiurim (lectures) by the Rav, the late Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, and published a collection of his notes on Tractate Yevamos called “Kuntres He ‘aros al Maseches Yevamos.”
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Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm
Rosh HaYeshiva Emeritus
Dr. Norman Lamm—a distinguished rabbi, philosopher, teacher and author—was elected president of Yeshiva University in August of 1976, succeeding Dr. Samuel Belkin and Dr. Bernard Revel. He was the University's third president and the first native-born American to head the nation's oldest and most comprehensive institution of higher learning under Jewish auspices. He served as chancellor and rosh ha-Yeshiva of YU's affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary from 2003 until his retirement on June 30, 2013.
Born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1927, Dr. Lamm received his elementary and high school education at Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah Vodaath. In 1945, he entered Yeshiva College where he continued his Jewish learning and undertook a liberal arts program with a major in chemistry. He graduated summa cum laude in 1949 and was class valedictorian.
Upon graduation, Dr. Lamm pursued advanced scientific studies at Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn while continuing his Judaic studies and rabbinic scholarship at Yeshiva. He was ordained as a rabbi at YU's affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary in 1951 and earned a PhD in Jewish philosophy from the University's Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies in 1966.
During the 17 years preceding his election as president, Dr. Lamm served on the Yeshiva University faculty, culminating in his appointment as the Erna and Jakob Michael Professor of Jewish Philosophy in 1966.
The author of 10 books, Dr. Lamm has gained wide recognition for his writings and discourses on interpretation of Jewish philosophy and law, especially in relation to problems involving science, technology and philosophy in the modern world.Dr. Lamm's writings and teachings on Jewish law have been cited in two landmark decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court: the 1966 Miranda decision regarding police interrogation of suspects held in custody and a 1967 case involving guarantees against self-incrimination. Also in 1967, Dr. Lamm testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on the right of privacy from the perspective of Jewish law.
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Rabbi Dovid Miller
Benjamin and Charlotte Gottesfeld Chair in Talmud
Rabbi David Miller serves as the director of the YU Caroline and Joseph S. Gruss Institute in Jerusalem and is the Rosh Kollel of the RIETS Israel Kollel. He has been teaching in and administering these programs since 1976, and is the inaugural occupant of the Benjamin and Charlotte Gottesfeld Chair in Talmud and Codes. During the years 2012-2014, he travelled to New York, and served as the Mashgiach Ruchani on the Wilf Campus.
While on reserve army duty, he served as a senior lecturer in the IDF Rabbinate from 1977-1997. In 1989, he was appointed the Head of Beit Medrash L’Torah, an undergraduate-level program located on the Gruss Campus and he served in that capacity for 10 years. In 2000, he became Rabbi of Kehillat Ateret Nof in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem.
A graduate of YU High School for Boys (1964), Rabbi Miller earned his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from YC (1968), semikhah from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (1971), and master’s degree in Jewish history from Bernard Revel Graduate School (1972).
After making aliyah, he continued his studies at Kollel Shevet U’Mechokek in a program leading to designation as a dayan, a decisor of Jewish law in the religious court system.
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Rabbi Yaakov Neuburger
I. Meier and Henrietta Segals Chair in Talmud
Rabbi Yaakov Neuburger is a rosh yeshiva at the Yeshiva Program/Mazer School of Talmudic Studies of Yeshiva University. Rabbi Neuberger is also the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Abraham in Bergenfield, N.J. Rabbi Neuburger is an authority on issues related to marital relationships and the purity of the Jewish home. He offers his services to help young men train for married life and prepare to build a proper Jewish home built on Jewish law and spirit. From 1986 to 1990, Rabbi Neuburger was spiritual leader of the Jewish community at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Jack D. Weiler Hospital. Rabbi Neuburger received semikha from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University in 1979 as well as Yadin Yadin Semikha. He is a graduate of Yeshiva College, and earned an MA in psychology from Columbia University.
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Rabbi Herschel Reichman
Bronka Weintraub Chair in Talmud
Rabbi Herschel Reichman is a rosh yeshiva and the Bronka Weintraub Professor of Talmud at the Mazer Yeshiva Program/Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University. Rabbi Reichman considers himself primarily a student of the Rav, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. However, Rabbi Reichman officially received his semikha (rabbinical ordination) from Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, with whom he studied Jewish law in a private tutorial. Rabbi Reichman is known for his passionate support of Religious Zionism. Rabbi Reichman has authored five volumes of Reshimos Shiurim, which are lucid notes and explanations of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s lectures on various sections of the Talmud. Additionally, Rabbi Reichman is a teacher of Hasidism, and is particularly fond of the philosophy of the Shem Mishmuel. Rabbi Reichman gives a weekly shiur at Rambam Mesivta in Lawrence, N.Y. Rabbi Reichman received a BA from Yeshiva and a PhD in operations research from New York University.
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Rabbi Yona Reiss
Rabbi Yona Reiss, a noted Torah scholar, attorney and jurist, is the Av Beth Din of the Chicago Rabbinical Council and a Rosh Yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University (RIETS). He previously served as the Max and Marion Grill Dean of RIETS. Rabbi Reiss is a summa cum laude graduate of Yeshiva College and went on to receive his law degree from Yale Law School, where he was a senior editor of the Law Journal. He received semikhah (rabbinic ordination) from RIETS, where he also earned the distinction of Yadin Yadin. Rabbi Reiss served as director of the Beth Din of America from 1998 to 2008. In his directorship of the Beth Din, Rabbi Reiss worked to resolve cases of agunot and popularized the use of the Rabbinical Council of America pre-nuptial agreement as a protection against future agunah problems. From 1992 to 1998, Rabbi Reiss was an associate at the international law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Manhattan. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association, a certified mediator for the City of New York court system and a member of the Family and Divorce Mediation Council for New York. Rabbi Reiss serves on the editorial board of Tradition magazine. A frequent writer on a variety of topics relating to both Jewish and secular law, he has published widely in Jewish publications, as well as in the Wall Street Journal and New York Law Journal.
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Rabbi Michael Rosensweig
Nathan and Perel Schupf Chair in Talmud
Rabbi Dr. Michael Rosensweig occupies the Nathan and Perel Schupf Chair in Talmud at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and is a rosh yeshiva in the Yeshiva Program/Mazer School of Talmudic Studies of Yeshiva University. He has written extensively, contributing to numerous journals of Torah learning. Rabbi Rosensweig received his semikha (rabbinic ordination) from RIETS and was a distinguished fellow of its post-semikha institute, the Gruss Kollel Elyon. He received his BA from Yeshiva College and earned his PhD in medieval Jewish history from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies while studying under Professor Haym Soloveitchik. Rabbi Rosensweig was also a student of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveichik for seven years, and a student of Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, renowned Talmudic scholar, rosh yeshiva at Yeshivat Har Etzion and director of the Joseph and Caroline Gruss Institute in Jerusalem. In 1997, Rabbi Rosensweig was appointed rosh kollel (dean) of the prestigious Israel Henry Beren Institute for Higher Talmudic Studies (Ha-Machon ha-Gavohah le’Talmud) at RIETS. Rabbi Rosensweig is known for his intricate conceptual approach to Talmud study, as well as his heavy use of Brisker methodology in Talmudic analysis.
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Rabbi Hershel Schachter
Nathan and Vivian Fink Distinguished Professorial Chair in Talmud
Rabbi Hershel Schachter, a noted Talmudic scholar, has had a distinguished career with the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, of Yeshiva University, for more than 40 years. He joined the faculty in 1967 at the age of 26, the youngest rosh yeshiva at RIETS. Since 1971, Rabbi Schachter has been rosh kollel in the Marcos and Adina Katz Kollel (Institute for Advanced Research in Rabbinics) and also holds the Nathan and Vivian Fink Distinguished Professorial Chair in Talmud. In addition to his teaching duties, Rabbi Schachter lectures, writes and serves as a world renowned decisor of Jewish law and the Posek for the Orthodox Union.. A prolific author, he has written more than 100 articles, in Hebrew and English for such scholarly publications as HaPardes, Hadarom, Beth Yitzchak and Or Hamizrach. His books include Eretz HaTzvi, B’ikvei HaTzon, Nefesh HaRav, MiPninei HaRav and Ginat Egoz. At age 22, Rabbi Schachter was appointed assistant to the renowned Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Rabbi Schachter earned his BA from Yeshiva College, an MA in Hebrew literature from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies in 1967, and was ordained at RIETS that same year.
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Rabbi Ezra Schwartz
Assistant Director of the Semikha Program and Bochein
Rabbi Ezra Schwartz is a Rosh Yeshiva and bochein at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. In that role, he administers tests to incoming students and assigns students to classes. He now teaches in the RIETS semikha program. He used to be an instructor of Talmud at the Mazer Yeshiva Program at Yeshiva University. Prior to 2012, he instructed Talmud at the Irving I. Stone Beit Midrash Program. He also coordinated the Rosansky Program in Contemporary Halacha. He also coordinates the Bronka Weintraub High School Bekiut Program, for high school students to study Talmud. He was a member of the staff of YU President Richard M. Joel, where he served as Assistant to the President for Research and Communications.
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Rabbi Eliahu B. Shulman
Rabbi Henry H. Guterman Chair in Talmud
Rabbi Eli Baruch Shulman serves as a Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS, holds the Rabbi Henry H. Guterman chair in Talmud, and is the rabbi of the Young Israel of Midwood in Brooklyn, NY. He received his rabbinic education in the yeshivot of Mir, Lakewood and Beis Yosef. He is the author of multiple seforim on Shas and a commentary on the Haggadah. He also served as an editor of the Schottenstein/Artscroll Talmud.
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Rabbi Baruch Simon
Col. Jehiel R. Elyacher Chair in Talmud
Rabbi Simon, received his semikha (rabbinic ordination) from Yeshiva University’s affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) in 1988. A graduate of Yeshiva University’s High School, Rabbi Simon earned his B.A., magna cum laude, in Judaic Studies from Yeshiva College where he delivered the Birkat Preidah, or farewell address, a singular honor given the Yeshiva Program Valedictorian.
Rabbi Simon was a fellow of the prestigious Caroline and Joseph Gruss Kollel Elyon and a fellow of the Katz Kollel. Before teaching in the Yeshiva Program, Rabbi Simon was a member of the Halakha faculty at the Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies at Yeshiva University. He has written numerous seforim under the title of Imrei Baruch.
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Rabbi Zvi Sobolofsky
Rabbi Sobolofsky studied at Yeshivat Kerem BeYavneh and Yeshiva University; graduating in 1987, he was named valedictorian of the Mazer Yeshiva Program. He then attended the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), finishing in 1990 and proceeded to the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration in 1996.
He was appointed Rosh Yeshiva in the spring of 2002 and began teaching Talmud at Yeshiva University and its affiliated RIETS in the fall of that year. His shiur has gained much popularity in its short existence, and is currently one of the most popular shiurim in the Yeshiva. Some credit this popularity to his ability to blend the teaching styles of his two teachers, Rabbi Mordechai Willig and Rabbi Hershel Schachter. Rabbi Willig is known for his focus towards practical understanding and Rabbi Schachter is known for his ability to present topics in the Talmud in a broader context. Rabbi Sobolofsky blends these two styles to form a unique package that many students find most rewarding.
In addition to his role as Rosh Yeshiva in RIETS, Rabbi Sobolofsky also serves as the spiritual leader of Congregation Ohr HaTorah in Bergenfield, New Jersey. His synagogue has attracted many Orthodox Jews to the community. Rabbi Sobolofsky also lectures at the Bergen County Beis Medrash Program (BCBM) housed at Congregation Bnai Yeshurun in Teaneck, New Jersey.
Prior to his appointment as Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Sobolofsky was a fellow of the Gruss Kollel Elyon and then went on to teach in Yeshiva University's Stone Beis Medrash Program for seven years.
Rabbi Sobolofsky is the author of a sefer, Reishis Koach, on Maseches Bechoros and and a sefer in English on Hilchos Nidda, as well as a series on Hilchos Aveilus, on the construction of a mikvah and on halachic aspects of the Seder, which are available on CDs and MP3s.His most recent sefer is titled The Laws and Concepts of Niddah
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Rabbi Daniel Stein
Perez and Frieda Friedberg Chair in Talmud
Rabbi Daniel Stein is a Rosh Yeshiva and Director of the Norman and Johanne Sternthal 4th Year Halakhah Lemaaseh Program at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University where he holds the Perez and Frieda Friedberg Chair in Talmud. Rabbi Stein is also the Rav of The Ridniker Shteibel, Cong Ahavath Chesed in the West Side of Manhattan, and was the founding Rav of Kehillas Beis Sholom in Clifton NJ where he served for four years. In addition, Rabbi Stein is an expert in the laws of eruvin and has been consulted regarding the creation, extension, and maintenance of numerous eruvin in the United States and Australia.
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Rabbi Michael Taubes
Rabbi Michael Taubes is Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS, and has served as Head of School at the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy – Yeshiva University High School for Boys, as well as a past member of the rabbinic faculty of Yeshiva College. He is also the spiritual leader of Congregation Zichron Mordechai in Teaneck, New Jersey, delivering regular Shiurim and lectures both there and at the Beis Medrash of Bergen County, housed in Teaneck’s Congregation Bnai Yeshurun. His classes are well known for their breadth of sources and clarity of presentation. Rabbi Taubes has been involved in formal and informal Jewish education for more than thirty years, serving both in the classroom and in various administrative posts. An alumnus of Yeshivat Har Etzion (“Gush”) in Israel where he was a student of Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, zt’l, Rabbi Taubes attended Yeshiva College and was honored upon graduation in 1980 with an award for excellence in Talmud. He subsequently studied in the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary for several years in the Shiur of the revered Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, zt’l, and from where he received his ordination. He also earned a Master’s Degree in Jewish Education from Yeshiva University’s Ferkauf Graduate School and then spent several years learning in Yeshiva’s Marcos and Adinah Katz Kollel, headed by Rabbi Hershel Schachter, shlita, with whom he continues to maintain a close relationship. Recognizing the need to spread Torah to people outside the sphere of influence of the yeshiva classroom and the Beis Medrash, Rabbi Taubes helped found The Jewish Learning Experience of Bergen County, a flourishing adult outreach institution, which he directed for many years and with which he remains affiliated. Rabbi Taubes is the author of The Practical Torah, a collection of articles on topics in Halachah based on the weekly Parshah, as well as numerous essays on an array of Torah subjects appearing in many Jewish publications. He also worked for ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications as a writer and editor for the English translation.
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Rabbi Moshe D. Tendler
Rabbi Isaac and Bella Tendler Chair in Jewish Medical Ethics
Rabbi Dr. Moshe Tendler is the Rabbi Isaac and Bella Tendler Professor of Jewish Medical Ethics and a professor of biology, as well as a rosh yeshiva in the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University. Rabbi Tendler is the leading expert on medical ethics as it pertains to Jewish law. He is the author of “Practical Medical Halakhah,” a textbook of Jewish responsa to medical issues, and “Pardes Rimonim,” a book about the halachot of Taharat HaMishpacha. Rabbi Tendler has been one of the most vocal supporters of Jewish organ donation. He has been a strong advocate for brain death criteria to be adopted as an acceptable definition of death under Jewish law. Rabbi Tender asserts that once organ donation has been deemed permissible under the given conditions, it is indeed mandatory, falling under the rubric of the legal obligation of Jews to preserve the lives of others. He has written extensively on euthanasia, infertility, end of life issues, organ donation and brit milah. Rabbi Tendler is spiritual leader of the Community Synagogue in Monsey, N.Y., and chairs the bioethical commission of the Rabbinical Council of America and the Medical Ethics Task Force of UJA-Federation of Greater New York. Rabbi Tendler is a strong supporter of Israel and Zionism and ascends the Temple Mount in Jerusalem every time he’s in Israel.
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Rabbi Mayer Twersky
Leib Merkin Distinguished Professorial Chair in Talmud and Jewish Philosophy
Rabbi Mayer Twersky holds the Leib Merkin Distinguished Professional Chair in Talmud and Jewish Philosophy at Yeshiva University’s affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University. He is also a rosh yeshiva in the Mazer Yeshiva Program of Talmudic Studies of Yeshiva College. His popular shiurim emphasize a combination of penetrating conceptual analyses and deep ethical imperatives. Rabbi Twersky hails from the well-known hasidic family of Chernobyl. His grandfather was the Rav, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Rabbi Twersky attended the Maimonides School in Brookline, Mass., which his grandfather founded, through high school. He then attended Harvard College, while studying Talmud privately with his grandfather. Following college, he studied for rabbinic ordination at RIETS. He eventually became a teacher in the Yeshiva University High School for Boys and later a lecturer at RIETS. In addition to Hebrew articles in RIETS’ annual Torah journal, Rabbi Twersky has published articles in various journals including Tradition and Orthodox Union’s magazine Jewish Action.
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Rabbi Jeremy Wieder
Gwendolyn and Joseph Straus Chair in Talmud
Rabbi Jeremy Wieder, PhD is Yeshiva University’s Joseph and Gwendolyn Straus Professor of Talmud in the Mazer Yeshiva Program, a rosh yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and an adjunct professor of Bible at Yeshiva College. Rabbi Wieder is a prolific scholar, with more than 900 lectures on Judaism captured on audio and video and available online. Rabbi Wieder was one of the first Americans to win the International Bible Contest. He graduated summa cum laude from Yeshiva College in 1991, and received an MS in American Jewish history from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. He was ordained at RIETS and holds a PhD in Judaic studies from New York University.
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Rabbi Mordechai I. Willig
Rabbi Dr. Sol Roth Chair in Talmud and Contemporary Halacha, and Rosh Kollel of the Bella and Harry Wexner Kollel Elyon
Rabbi Mordechai Willig is Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Dr. Sol Roth Professor of Talmud and Contemporary Halachah. He has been a rosh yeshiva at the Yeshiva Program/Mazer School of Talmudic Studies since 1973 and a rosh kollel at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Rabbi Willig has served as spiritual leader of the Young Israel of Riverdale in the Bronx, N.Y., since 1974. He is the author of multiple volumes of Am Mordechai on various masechtos, which came out in two volumes, and has authored many articles in Torah scholarship journals. Rabbi Willig is the deputy av beis din of the Beth Din of America. He has been an outspoken advocate of the halachic prenuptual agreement as a preventative measure against the creation of agunot. Rabbi Willig received a BA in mathematics from Yeshiva College in 1968 and an MS in Jewish history in 1971 from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. He received semikha (rabbinic ordination) that same year at RIETS.
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