Rabbi Moshe Kletenik | |
|---|---|
 Rabbi Moshe Kletenik | |
| President, Rabbinical Council of America | |
| Av Beth Din and Mesader Gittin,Vaad HaRabbanim of Greater Seattle | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1954 Chicago,Illinois |
| Spouse | Rivy Poupko Kletenik |
| Children | Gilah Kletenik |
Moshe Kletenik is an American rabbi who was President of the Rabbinical Council of America.
He was born in Chicago in 1954. His parents are Rabbi Shya and Rochelle Kletenik. After studying in the Hebrew Theological College and Yeshivas Brisk of Chicago,he received "Yoreh Yoreh" semicha from Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik . Kletenik received semicha in the areas of gittin and Even Ha'ezer and "Yadin Yadin" semicha from Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz in 2004 and 2009 respectively. [1]
He has served as a congregational rabbi,at Shaare Torah Congregation of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania,and in Seattle at Bikur Cholim Machzikay Hadath Congregation from 1994 until June 2013. He is currently the Av Beth Din and Mesader Gittin for the Vaad HaRabbanim of Greater Seattle. [1] [2]
Kletenik was President of the Rabbinical Council of America [3] and a member of the Faith Advisory Board to Governor Christine Gregoire of Washington State. He has written extensively on contemporary issues of Jewish law,especially Jewish medical ethics,and published in journals such as Hadarom,Hapardes and Aspaklaria and the RCA Sermon Anthology Series which he has co-edited. Kletenik lectures at medical ethics conferences such as Bar Ilan University. [4]
Kletenik presently heads the Semicha Standards Committee of the RCA. [5] This committee "determine[s] which institutional and private semichot are acceptable for membership in the RCA."
Kletenik brokered the conversion deal between the RCA and Israeli Chief Rabbinate. He defended this controversial deal in an editorial. [6]
Under his leadership,the RCA approved a resolution at its April 2010 conference which prohibited the ordination of women as rabbis,as well as "the recognition of women as members of the Orthodox rabbinate,regardless of the title." [7] The resolution was passed in response to the decision by the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale to ordain Sara Hurwitz with the newly established title 'Rabba',formally recognizing her role as a member of its rabbinical staff.
He is married to Rivy Poupko Kletenik and has four children,including Gilah Kletenik. [8]
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.
Semikhah is the traditional Jewish name for rabbinic ordination.
The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) is one of the world's largest organizations of Orthodox rabbis;it is affiliated with The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America,more commonly known as the Orthodox Union (OU). It is the main professional rabbinical association within Modern Orthodox in the United States. Many rabbis of the RCA are graduates of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University or otherwise identify with Modern Orthodox Judaism.
Baruch Aaron "Bernard" Poupko was a Russian-born American scholar,author,and lecturer. A refugee who escaped persecution in his native Russia,he went on to become a prominent figure in the Jewish community in the United States whose career largely focused on advocating for Soviet Jews.
Telshe Yeshiva (Chicago) (or Telshe Chicago or Telz Chicago) is a Yeshiva (Jewish Talmudical and Rabbinical School) in Chicago,Illinois. In 1960,Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Katz,Rosh Yeshiva of the Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland,Ohio,established Telshe Chicago as a branch of the Telshe Yeshiva (named after the Lithuanian town of Telšiai).
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Rivy Poupko Kletenik is an American lecturer and educator.
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Reuben Joshua Poupko is a Canadian-American Orthodox rabbi. He has served as spiritual leader of the Beth Israel Beth Aaron Congregation synagogue in Montreal since 1986,and sits as co-chair of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs' Canadian Rabbinic Caucus.
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Rabbi Sholom Rivkin was an Israeli-born American rabbi. He was the last Chief Rabbi of St. Louis,Missouri,and the last chief rabbi of one of only a few cities in the United States that has ever had a chief rabbi. He held the post of Chief Rabbi from 1983 until 2005 and was Chief Rabbi Emeritus until his death in 2011. He was also a chief judge on the Beth Din of the Rabbinical Council of America,and head of the Vaad Hoeir of St. Louis,the governing body of the St. Louis Orthodox Jewish community. He was an expert in Jewish law,especially family and divorce law,and was consulted by rabbis and rabbinical courts around the world.
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