Ben-Tzion Spitz

Last updated
Former Chief Rabbi

Ben-Tzion Spitz
Personal
Born
Ben-Tzion Spitz

1969
Religion Judaism
NationalityAmerican, Israeli
SpouseTamara Tocker Spitz
Parent(s)Elliot and Nira Spitz
Denomination Orthodox
Alma mater Yeshivat Har Etzion, Yeshiva University, Columbia University
Jewish leader
Website ben-tzion.com
PositionFormer Chief Rabbi
OrganisationKehila of Uruguay
Began1 May 2013
Ended12 October 2016
Residence Montevideo, Uruguay
Semikhah Yeshivat Pirchei Shoshanim

Rabbi Ben-Tzion Spitz (born 1969) was the Chief Rabbi of Uruguay. He was born in Queens, New York, United States. In May 2013 he was appointed as Chief Rabbi of Uruguay, a position he held until October 2016. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Ben-Tzion was born in Queens, New York, U.S. in 1969, the son of Elliot and Nira Spitz. His father is an international commodities trader and his mother is an artist. [3]

The family moved for the father's business assignments. Ben-Tzion spent formative years of his childhood in Caracas, Venezuela and in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where he learned to speak Spanish and Portuguese. [3]

Spitz attended Yeshiva University High School in Manhattan from 1983 to 1986. Spitz learned at Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh from 1986 to 1988 and after moving to Israel in 1997 was an ongoing student and lecturer at Yeshivat Har Etzion from 1997 until 2013. He studied with Yeshivat Pirchei Shoshanim since 2007 and received his rabbinic ordination from them in 2010. [3]

Spitz obtained a BA from Yeshiva University in 1990 and a MS from Columbia University in Mechanical Engineering in 1992. He is also a Certified Energy Manager receiving his certification from the Association of Energy Engineers in 2012. [2] [3] [4]

Career

After graduate school, Spitz worked as a Nuclear Engineer for Raytheon. Thereafter he held a number of business and technical positions for companies in the United States and in Israel, including serving as CEO of technology start-up Nanolayers and Managing Director of energy technology consultancy Hillpoint Energy. [3] [4]

Writings

Spitz has written much Biblical Fiction, weaving new stories based on the ancient text, but strongly inspired and in line with the Jewish Orthodox tradition. He has posted an entire series of short stories based on the weekly reading of the Torah. He has also posted a fictional series based on the biblical stories of Joshua, Ehud and Ruth. Valiant Publishing has published two collections of his short stories, Destiny's Call: Book One - Genesis, and Destiny's Call: Book Two - Exodus. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yehuda Amital</span> Israeli rabbi and politician

Yehuda Amital was an Orthodox rabbi, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, and a member of the Israeli cabinet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercaz HaRav</span> Yeshiva in Jerusalem

Mercaz HaRav is a national-religious yeshiva in Jerusalem, founded in 1924 by Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. Located in the city's Kiryat Moshe neighborhood, it has become the most prominent religious-Zionist yeshiva in the world and synonymous with Rabbi Kook's teachings. Many Religious Zionist educators and leaders have studied at Mercaz HaRav, where hundreds of future militants, opposed to territorial compromises and promoting Israeli settlement of the occupied Palestinian territories, received their formative education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy</span> Private, yeshiva, day school in New York, NY, United States

The Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy, also known as Yeshiva University High School for Boys (YUHSB), MTA or TMSTA, is an Orthodox Jewish day school and the boys' prep school of Yeshiva University (YU) in the Washington Heights neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is the brother school to the Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isser Zalman Meltzer</span> Belarusian rabbi, rosh yeshiva, and posek (1870–1953)

Isser Zalman Meltzer, was a Lithuanian Jewish and Belarusian Orthodox rabbi, rosh yeshiva and posek. He is also known as the "Even HaEzel"—the title of his commentary on Rambam's Mishneh Torah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yaaqov Medan</span>

Yaaqov Medan is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi, co-Rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, a respected leader in the Religious-Zionist community, and a lecturer in Tanakh, Gemara, and Jewish philosophy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeshivat HaKotel</span>

Yeshivat HaKotel is a religious Zionist Hesder yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem, opposite the Temple Mount and overlooking the Kotel, hence its name. Most of the students are in the Israeli Hesder program which combines at least fifteen months of army service with several years of Yeshiva study.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porat Yosef Yeshiva</span> Yeshiva in Jerusalem

Porat Yosef Yeshiva is a Sephardic yeshiva in Jerusalem, with locations in both the Old City and the Geula neighborhood. The name Porat Yosef means "Joseph is a fruitful tree" after the biblical verse Genesis 49:22.

Moshe Meiselman is an American-born Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshiva Toras Moshe in Jerusalem, which he established in 1982. He also founded and served as principal of Yeshiva University of Los Angeles (YULA) from 1977 to 1982. He is a descendant of the Lithuanian Jewish Soloveitchik rabbinic dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeshivat Har Etzion</span> Hesder Yeshiva located in Israel.

Yeshivat Har Etzion, commonly known in English as "Gush" and in Hebrew as "Yeshivat HaGush", is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, an Israeli settlement in Gush Etzion. It is considered one of the leading institutions of advanced Torah study in the world and with a student body of roughly 480, it is one of the largest hesder yeshivot in the West Bank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yaakov Ariel</span> Israeli religious Zionist rabbi

Yaakov Ariel is the chief rabbi of the city of Ramat Gan, Israel, and one of the leading rabbis of the religious Zionist movement. Ariel had served as the rosh yeshiva of the yeshiva in the abandoned Israeli settlement of Yamit in the Sinai Peninsula until 1982, and is currently the president of the Ramat Gan Yeshiva. He also served as the rabbi of Kfar Maimon for about 25 years.

The Synagogue of the Uruguayan Jewish Community is a synagogue in Montevideo, Uruguay. The services are conducted by Chief Rabbi Ben-Tzion Spitz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yaakov Ades</span> Israeli Sephardi rabbi and rosh yeshiva

Yaakov Hai Zion Ades, also spelled Adas or Adess, was a Sephardi Hakham, Rosh Yeshiva, and Rabbinical High Court judge. As rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem, he raised thousands of students, including Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel; Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul, rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef; and Rabbi Yehuda Hakohen Rabin, Chief Rabbi of Bukharan Jewry in Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mosheh Lichtenstein</span>

Mosheh Lichtenstein is a co-rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion located in Alon Shvut. He is the eldest son of Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein and Dr. Tovah Soloveitchik.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliyahu Ben Haim</span>

Eliyahu Ben Chaim is a Sephardi rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and Orthodox halachist. He is the Av Beit Din of Mekor Haim in Queens, New York, and a prominent leader of New York's Sephardi Jewish community.

Reuven Elbaz is a Sephardi Haredi rabbi, rosh yeshiva, and a leader of the baal teshuva movement among Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews in Israel. He is the founder and head of the Ohr Hachaim network of institutions, which operates educational, humanitarian, prison, and drug rehabilitation programs in 350 branches across Israel. He is also the founder and dean of Yeshivat Ohr Hachaim in Jerusalem, which enrolls more than 500 students. He is a senior member of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah of the Shas political party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeshivas Itri</span> Yeshiva school

Yeshivas Itri is an Orthodox yeshiva in southeast Jerusalem. Founded in 1968 by Rabbi Mordechai Elefant, the yeshiva has several branches in Israel and the United States, and spawned several educational programs for Diaspora Jews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yitzhak Israeli</span>

Yitzhak Israeli is a Sephardi rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and Orthodox halakhist. He is the Av Beit Din of Torah U'Mishpat in Brooklyn, New York. He serves as the Rabbi of the Sephardic Center of Mill Basin, a predominantly Syrian Jewish congregation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yitzchak Sheilat</span> Israeli rabbi, librarian and translator (born 1946)

Rabbi Yitzchak Sheilat is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi and scholar of Jewish thought, specializing in the writings of Maimonides and Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. He co-founded and serves as a senior faculty member at Yeshivat Birkat Moshe, the Hesder yeshiva of Maale Adumim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menachem Penner</span> American rabbi

Menachem (Marc) Penner is an American Modern Orthodox rabbi who is the Max and Marion Grill Dean of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University. He is also the Dean of Men's Undergraduate Torah Studies Program at Yeshiva University. Penner is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Holliswood.

References

  1. "Semanario Hebreo, Aug 2013". Semanario Hebreo.
  2. 1 2 "New Job, New Career, New Country". 29 April 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "A Short Autobiography of Chief Rabbi Ben-Tzion Spitz". 18 September 2013.
  4. 1 2 "LinkedIn Profile".
  5. "Biblical Fiction archive".