Agudath Israel of America is an American organization that represents Haredi Orthodox Jews. It is loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel. Agudah seeks to meet the needs of the Haredi community, advocates for its religious and civil rights, and services its constituents through charitable, educational, and social service projects across North America.
World Agudath Israel, usually known as the Aguda, was established in the early twentieth century as the political arm of Ashkenazi Torah Judaism. It succeeded Agudas Shlumei Emunei Yisroel in 1912. Its base of support was located in Eastern Europe before the Second World War but, due to the revival of the Hasidic movement, it included Orthodox Jews throughout Europe. Prior to World War II and the Holocaust, Agudath Israel operated a number of Jewish educational institutions throughout Europe. After the war, it has continued to operate such institutions in the United States as Agudath Israel of America, and in Israel. Agudath Israel is guided by its Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah in Israel and the USA.
The Hebrew Theological College, known colloquially as "Skokie Yeshiva" or HTC, is a yeshiva in Skokie, Illinois. Although the school's primary focus is the teaching of Torah and Jewish tradition, it is also a private university that is part of the Touro University System which hosts separate programs for men and women. Founded as a Modern Orthodox institution, it has evolved to include students from Haredi and Hasidic backgrounds.
Boston is a Hasidic dynasty, originally established in 1915 by Rabbi Pinchas David Horowitz, a scion of the Nikolsburg Hasidic dynasty. Following the custom of European Chassidic Courts, where the Rebbe was called after the name of his city, the Bostoner branch of Hasidic Judaism was named after Boston, Massachusetts. The most senior and well-known of the Bostoner Rebbes in contemporary times was Grand Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz, who died in December 2009.
Yeshiva Torah Vodaas is a yeshiva in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
Elazar Menachem Man Shach was a Haredi rabbi who headed Lithuanian Orthodox Jews in Israel and around the world from the early 1970s until his death. He served as chair of the Council of Sages and one of three co-deans of the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, along with Shmuel Rozovsky and Dovid Povarsky. Due to his differences with the Hasidic leadership of the Agudat Yisrael political party, he allied with Ovadia Yosef, with whom he founded the Shas party in 1984. Later, in 1988, Shach criticized Ovadia Yosef, saying that, "Sepharadim are not yet ready for leadership positions", and subsequently founded the Degel HaTorah political party representing the Litvaks in the Israeli Knesset.
Sadigura is a Hasidic dynasty named for the city of Sadhora, Bukovina, which was part of the Austrian Empire. The dynasty began in 1850 with Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Friedman, a son of Rabbi Yisrael Friedman of Ruzhyn, and was based in Sadigura until 1914. During the interwar period the dynasty was led by rebbes in Vienna and Przemyśl, Poland, and just before World War II moved to Israel.
Toldos Aharon is a devout, insular, fervently anti-Zionist Hasidic group. The group is characterized by extreme conservatism and a desire to preserve the life of the old Yishuv in Jerusalem, in sharp opposition to Zionism, in a strict Haredi way of life, in a special style of clothing, and in an emphasis on prayer at a moderate pace and with enthusiasm. Headquartered in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood, it also has significant numbers in Ramat Beit Shemesh, and New York City, and additional members in Tiberias and in Harish. The sect has about 1,800 households. Toldos Aharon is a split-off from Shomer Emunim. It is led by its Rebbe, Dovid Kohn.
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah is the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah movements in Israel; and of Agudath Israel of America in the United States. Members are usually prestigious Roshei Yeshiva or Hasidic rebbes, who are also usually regarded by many Haredi Jews to be the Gedolim ("great/est") sages of Torah Judaism. Before the Holocaust, it was the supreme authority for the World Agudath Israel in Europe.
The Apta-Zinkov-Mezibuz dynasty is a Polish Hasidic dynasty founded by Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apta.
Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz was an Israeli Haredi Torah leader and rosh yeshiva in Bnei Brak for over 70 years. He was a maggid shiur at Yeshivas Tiferes Tzion from 1940 to 2011 and rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Ponovezh L’Tzeirim from 1954 to 2009, raising thousands of students. He was a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Degel HaTorah, a member of Mifal HaShas, and nasi (president) of the Acheinu kiruv organization, and played a leading role in the fight for Torah-true education in yeshivas and Talmud Torahs in Israel. In addition to his own Torah works, he published the teachings of his rebbi, Rabbi Shlomo Heiman, in the two-volume Chiddushei Shlomo.
Rabbi Shlomo Eliyahu Miller is a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. He is a Rosh Kollel (dean) and co-founder of the Kollel Avreichim Institute for Advanced Talmud Study, a haredi post-yeshiva educational institution in Toronto and head of its Beis Din. He is a Litvish Haredi Posek in Toronto.
Gadol or godol is used by religious Jews to refer to the most revered rabbis of the generation.
Aaron Moshe Schechter was an American Haredi rabbi. He was the rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin and its post-graduate Talmudical division, Kollel Gur Aryeh. He also served on the presidium of Agudath Israel of America and was a member of that organization's Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah.
Rabbi Aharon Feldman is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, Maryland. He has held this position since 2001. He is also a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah.
Shmuel Kamenetsky is an American Haredi rabbi. He is the co-founder and rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia. He is also a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah.
Yaakov Perlow was an American Hasidic rabbi and rosh yeshiva, and Rebbe of the Novominsk Hasidic dynasty. From 1998 until his death in 2020, he was president of Agudath Israel of America, a Haredi advocacy organization. He was also head of that organization's Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. He was one of the most respected leaders of the American Orthodox Jewish community, known for his scholarly and oratorical skills.
Shmuel Yaakov Weinberg, known as Yaakov Weinberg was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, Talmudist, and rosh yeshiva (dean) of Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore, Maryland, one of the major American non-Hasidic yeshivas. Weinberg was also a rabbinical advisor and board member in Haredi and Orthodox institutions such as Torah Umesorah, Agudath Israel of America and the Association for Jewish Outreach Programs.
Bluzhev is a Hasidic dynasty originating in Błażowa, Poland and currently based in Brooklyn, NY. Founded by Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech Spira in the early 1880s, it was destroyed during the Holocaust and reestablished in the United States by Rabbi Yisroel Spira. In 2015, after the death of Grand Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Spira, the court splintered into three smaller groups, one retaining the name Bluzev and the others going under the names Ribatitch and Bluzhev. All are centered in Brooklyn.
Elya Brudny is an American Haredi rabbi. He serves as rosh yeshiva (dean) in the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn and is a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel of America.
