A rabbi is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as semikha—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisaic and Talmudic eras, when learned teachers assembled to codify Judaism's written and oral laws. The title "rabbi" was first used in the first century CE. In more recent centuries, the duties of a rabbi became increasingly influenced by the duties of the Protestant Christian minister, hence the title "pulpit rabbis", and in 19th-century Germany and the United States rabbinic activities including sermons, pastoral counseling, and representing the community to the outside, all increased in importance.
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.
A Rebbe or Admor is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties. The titles of Rebbe and Admor, which used to be a general honor title even before the beginning of the movement, became, over time, almost exclusively identified with its Tzadikim.
Religious pluralism is a set of religious world views that hold that one's religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth, and thus recognizes that some level of truth and value exists in other religions. As such, religious pluralism goes beyond religious tolerance, which is the condition of peaceful existence between adherents of different religions or religious denominations.
Joel Teitelbaum was the founder and first Grand Rebbe of the Satmar dynasty.
Satmar is a Hasidic group founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, in the city of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary. The group is an offshoot of the Sighet Hasidic dynasty. Following World War II, it was re-established in New York.
The Three Weeks or Bein ha-Metzarim is a period of mourning commemorating the destruction of the first and second Jewish Temples. The Three Weeks start on the seventeenth day of the Jewish month of Tammuz—the fast of Shiva Asar B'Tammuz—and end on the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av—the fast of Tisha B'Av, which occurs exactly three weeks later. Both of these fasts commemorate events surrounding the destruction of the Jewish Temples and the subsequent exile of the Jews from the land of Israel. According to conventional chronology, the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II occurred in 586/7 BCE, and the second siege of Jerusalem (70) by the Romans, in 70 CE. Jewish chronology, however, traditionally places the first destruction at about 421 BCE.
Tashlikh or Tashlich is a customary Jewish atonement ritual performed during the High Holy Days on Rosh Hashanah. In some Judaeo-Spanish-speaking communities the practice is referred to as sakudirse las faldas or simply as faldas.
Shemaryahu Yosef Chaim Kanievsky was an Israeli Haredi rabbi and posek. He was a leading authority in Haredi Jewish society on legal and ethical practice. Known as Gadol HaDor and the "Prince of Torah", much of his prominence came through Torah education and advice about Jewish law.
Yeshiva Torah Vodaas is a yeshiva in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
Aharon Rokeach was the fourth Rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty. He led the movement from 1926 until he died in 1957.
Avigdor HaKohen Miller was an American Haredi rabbi, author, and lecturer.
Soltvadkert is a town in Bács-Kiskun County in Hungary with approximately 8,000 inhabitants. The former name of the town is Vadkert. It is surrounded by several areas of Kiskunság National Park and Lake Vadkert.
Shmuel Auerbach was a Haredi rabbi in Jerusalem. He was considered a leader in the non-Hasidic Haredi community in Israel. His followers formed a political organisation known as the Jerusalem Faction. In 2013, as the Israeli government launched a campaign to draft Ultra Orthodox men into the IDF, the organisation adopted a controversial policy of demonstrations and incitement against the draft.
Torah Ore is an American Orthodox post-high-school yeshiva and kollel located in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat Mattersdorf. It was founded in 1960 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York, by Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg. The yeshiva moved to Jerusalem in 1965 and entered its present location in 1971. As of 2013, Torah Ore enrolls approximately 300 undergraduate students and 600 kollel (married) students. It has thousands of alumni, many of whom became prominent rabbis, rosh yeshivas, and lay leaders of Jewish communities around the globe. Scheinberg served as rosh yeshiva of Torah Ore for over 50 years until his death in 2012; he was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Simcha Scheinberg.
Howard (Chaim) Jachter is an American Orthodox rabbi, Dayan, educator, and author. He sits on the Beth Din of Elizabeth, New Jersey as a Dayan and Get administrator. Noted as an expert on the laws of Jewish divorce, he also chairs the Agunah Prevention and Resolution Committee of the Rabbinical Council of America. Rabbi Jachter is also the consulting rabbi for over 60 Eruvs across the United States. He serves as the Rabbi of Sha'arei Orah, the Sephardic Congregation of Teaneck, and is a faculty member at the Torah Academy of Bergen County (TABC). Author of sixteen books and over one thousand online and journal articles, he writes and lectures extensively on contemporary topics in Jewish law and thought. He has five children.
In Judaism, a person who is shomer Shabbat or shomer Shabbos is a person who observes the mitzvot (commandments) associated with Judaism's Shabbat, or Sabbath, which begins at dusk on Friday and ends after sunset on Saturday.
Jewish vegetarianism is a commitment to vegetarianism that is connected to Judaism, Jewish ethics or Jewish identity. Jewish vegetarians often cite Jewish principles regarding animal welfare, environmental ethics, moral character, and health as reasons for adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet.
Zvi Yisrael Thau is a very conservative Religious Zionist rabbi, a disciple of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, and co-founder and president of Yeshivat Har Hamor in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Pinchas Mordechai Teitz (1908–1995) was a rabbi, teacher, author, and innovator in creating a modern Torah community in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He excelled in his family's tradition of caring for Jews across the globe in any challenges they faced. A mikvah he built in 1938, a day school he founded in 1941 that grew to more than 900 students, adult education courses that he initiated, the welcome he gave to displaced persons after WWII and to Jews who came from Russia, all became a model for other leaders to implement in their cities and towns.
