Joseph Telushkin | |
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| Born | 1948 (age 75–76) United States |
| Occupation | Rabbi, writer, lecturer |
| Genre | Judaism, ethics |
Joseph Telushkin (born 1948) is an American rabbi. He has authored more than 15 books, [1] including volumes about Jewish ethics, Jewish literacy, as well as the book Rebbe , a New York Times bestseller released in June 2014. [2]
Telushkin was raised in Brooklyn and attended the Yeshivah of Flatbush. He was ordained at Yeshiva University and studied Jewish history at Columbia University.
Telushkin was raised in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Solomon and Hellen Telushkin. He attended Yeshiva of Flatbush, where he met his friend and future co-author for two books, Dennis Prager, in tenth grade. While at Columbia University, they studied Jewish history and authored Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism and Why the Jews?: The Reason for Antisemitism.
At university, Telushkin was an active leader of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry. As part of his position, Telushkin visited the Soviet Union, where he met with dissidents such as Andrei Sakharov. He was eventually listed by the KGB as an anti-Russian agent.
An Orthodox rabbi by training, Telushkin served until its closure in December 2022 as Rabbi of the Los Angeles Synagogue for the Performing Arts, [3] founded in 1972 by Rabbi Jerome Cutler. He is an associate of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership and a former director of education at the non-denominational Brandeis-Bardin Institute. Telushkin is also a Senior Associate with CLAL and is a member of the board of directors of the Jewish Book Council. He has been on the Newsweek list of the 50 most influential rabbis in America since 1997. [4]
Telushkin is the author of 16 books on Judaism. His book Words That Hurt, Words That Heal inspired Senators Joseph Lieberman’s and Connie Mack’s Senate Resolution #151 to establish a National Speak No Evil Day in the US, a day for which Americans would go for twenty-four hours without saying anything unkind or unfair about, or to, anyone. His book Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History was one of the best-selling books on Judaism of the 1990s and early 2000s. More than two decades after its publication, the book remains a foundation text for Jews, non-Jews, and prospective converts alike. [5] The first volume of A Code of Jewish Ethics: You Shall Be Holy, which Telushkin regards as his major life's work, was published in 2006. It won the National Jewish Book Award for Jewish Book of the Year. [6] The second volume, A Code of Jewish Ethics: Love Your Neighbor, was released in 2009.
In 2013, Telushkin was invited by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, to speak before the commission in Geneva.[ citation needed ]
In 2014, Telushkin released Rebbe , which appeared on the bestseller lists of New York Times Best Seller list, Wall Street Journal , [7] and Publishers Weekly .
Telushkin tours the United States as a lecturer on Jewish topics, and he has been named by Talk Magazine as one of the 50 best speakers in the United States. He wrote the episode 'Bar Mitzvah' on Touched by an Angel , guest-starring Kirk Douglas.[ citation needed ]
Meshullam Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, commonly called "Reb Zalman", was one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement and an innovator in ecumenical dialogue.
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known to adherents of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply the Rebbe, was an Orthodox rabbi and the most recent Rebbe of the Lubavitch Hasidic dynasty. He is considered one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century.
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch, is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups as well as one of the largest Jewish religious organizations in the world. Unlike most Haredi groups, which are self-segregating, Chabad mainly operates in the wider world and it caters to secularized Jews.
Joseph Ber Soloveitchik was a major American Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and modern Jewish philosopher. He was a scion of the Lithuanian Jewish Soloveitchik rabbinic dynasty.
Dennis Mark Prager is an American conservative radio talk show host and writer. He is the host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show The Dennis Prager Show. In 2009, he co-founded PragerU, which primarily creates five-minute videos from an American conservative perspective, among other content.
Jewish Renewal is a Jewish religious movement originating in the 20th century that endeavors to reinvigorate modern Judaism with Kabbalistic, Hasidic, and musical practices. Specifically, it seeks to reintroduce the "ancient Judaic traditions of mysticism and meditation, gender equality and ecstatic prayer" to synagogue services. It is distinct from the baal teshuva movement of return to Orthodox Judaism.
Jewish ethics is the ethics of the Jewish religion or the Jewish people. A type of normative ethics, Jewish ethics may involve issues in Jewish law as well as non-legal issues, and may involve the convergence of Judaism and the Western philosophical tradition of ethics.
The tradition of humor in Judaism dates back to the Torah and the Midrash from the ancient Middle East, but generally refers to the more recent stream of verbal and often anecdotal humor of Ashkenazi Jews which took root in the United States over the last hundred years, including in secular Jewish culture. European Jewish humor in its early form developed in the Jewish community of the Holy Roman Empire, with theological satire becoming a traditional way of clandestinely opposing Christianization.
Repentance is one element of atoning for sin in Judaism. Judaism recognizes that everybody sins on occasion, but that people can stop or minimize those occasions in the future by repenting for past transgressions. Thus, the primary purpose of repentance in Judaism is ethical self-transformation.
Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks was an English Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, and author. Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013. As the spiritual head of the United Synagogue, the largest synagogue body in the United Kingdom, he was the Chief Rabbi of those Orthodox synagogues but was not recognized as the religious authority for the Haredi Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations or for the progressive movements such as Masorti, Reform, and Liberal Judaism. As Chief Rabbi, he formally carried the title of Av Beit Din (head) of the London Beth Din. At the time of his death, he was the Emeritus Chief Rabbi.
The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada. The CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world. Its current president is Rabbi Erica Asch.
Rabbi Ezekiel Isidore Epstein was an Orthodox rabbi and rabbinical scholar in England. He is best known as Editor of the first complete English translation of the Babylonian Talmud, and for his role as Principal of Jews' College, London. He was also the author of numerous scholarly and popular books on Judaism.
David Berger is an American academic, dean of Yeshiva University's Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, as well as chair of Yeshiva College's Jewish Studies department. He is the author of various books and essays on medieval Jewish apologetics and polemics, as well as having edited the modern critical edition of the medieval polemic text Nizzahon Vetus. Outside academic circles he is best known for The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference, a criticism of Chabad messianism.
The Yeshivah of Flatbush is a Modern Orthodox private Jewish day school located in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, New York. It educates students from age 2 to age 18 and includes an early childhood center, an elementary school and a secondary school.
The Brandeis-Bardin Campus of American Jewish University is a Jewish retreat located since 1947 in the northeastern Simi Hills, in the city of Simi Valley, California. Formerly known as the Brandeis-Bardin Institute, it is used for nondenominational summer programs for children, teens, and young adults.
Messianism in Chabad refers to the contested beliefs among some members of the Chabad-Lubavitch community—a group within Hasidic Judaism—regarding the Jewish messiah. Some members of the Chabad community believe that Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the deceased seventh Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty, is the Jewish messiah. The issue remains controversial within both the Chabad movement and the broader Jewish community.
Orthodox Jewish philosophy comprises the philosophical and theological teachings of Orthodox Judaism. Though Orthodox Judaism sees itself as the heir of traditional rabbinic Judaism, the present-day movement is thought to have first formed in the late 18th century, mainly in reaction to the Jewish emancipation and the growth of the Haskalah and Reform movements. Orthodox Jewish philosophy concerns itself with interpreting traditional Jewish sources, reconciling the Jewish faith with the changes in the modern world and the movement's relationships with the State of Israel and other Jewish denominations.
Rebbe: The Life and Teachings of Menachem M. Schneerson, the Most Influential Rabbi in Modern History is a biography of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson authored by Joseph Telushkin and published in 2014.
Allen Estrin is an American screenwriter, producer, director, and author. He is known for screenwriting with his late brother Mark Estrin, co-writing a novel with Joseph Telushkin, and his current work with Dennis Prager. With Prager he co-founded PragerU and serves as the executive producer of the Dennis Prager Show.
Tzvi Freeman is a Canadian rabbi and author associated with the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. Freeman is known for his work as a writer and editor for Chabad.org, and is notable for his work on the topics of Jewish mysticism and Jewish meditation. Freeman's book Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, as well as his other writings and teachings, are primarily based on the teachings of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Rebbe of the Chabad movement. His writing style includes a blend of Kabbalah and science fiction.
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