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 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.
The Union for Traditional Judaism, founded in 1984, is a traditional, Halakhic Jewish outreach and communal service organization. It initially called itself "The Union for Traditional Conservative Judaism" but dropped "Conservative" from its title when it broke with the Conservative movement. In 1985 Rabbi Ronald D. Price was tapped to lead the organization as executive director and later as Executive Vice President. He served in that capacity for 26 years until his retirement in 2011. He was succeeded by Rabbi David Bauman and then Rabbi Gerald Sussman who is currently (2018) the executive director. In 1988 after attempting to affect change within Conservative Judaism, the UTJ membership voted to drop the word 'Conservative' from its title. Following a two-year period of negotiations, the Rabbinic Fellowship of the UTJ absorbed a modern Orthodox rabbinic organization, the Fellowship of Traditional Orthodox Rabbis. The merged rabbinic body is known today as MORASHAH. Some of the UTJ leaders at various times called themselves Conservative, Modern Orthodox or trans-denominational. The UTJ's Institute of Traditional Judaism (ITJ) granted semikhah to a number of rabbis, though as of 2018 there are no current semikhah students. The UTJ's Panel of Halakhic Inquiry has published three volumes of responsa titled "Tomeikh kaHalakhah." The UTJ produced the educational curriculum "Taking the MTV Challenge—Media and Torah Values" designed to provide high-school students with tools to respond to the electronic media. The UTJ is often viewed as representing a denomination or inhabiting an ideological space between Conservative and Orthodox Judaism.
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University (YU). It is located along Amsterdam Avenue in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.
The Frisch School, also known as Yeshivat Frisch, is a coeducational, Modern Orthodox, yeshiva high school located in Paramus, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was founded in 1972 by Rabbi Menachem Meier and Alfred Frisch. The school primarily serves the Jewish communities of northern New Jersey, and New York.
Neshaminy High School is a public high school in Middletown Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the only high school in the Neshaminy School District, serving students in Middletown Township, Lower Southampton Township, Hulmeville, Langhorne, Langhorne Manor, and Penndel. In 2022, the school enrolled 2,677 students in grades 9 through 12. "U.S. News & World Report" ranked the school 117 out of 718 Pennsylvania high schools in 2022.
The Indiana Daily Student (IDS) is an independent, student-run newspaper that has been published for the community of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, since 1867. The IDS is free and distributed throughout the campus and city.
St. Louis Park High School is a four-year public high school located in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, United States. St. Louis Park High School is ranked by Newsweek as #290 in their "List of the 1500 Top High Schools in America," #3 among Minnesota schools on the list in 2012. In 2001, the high school began participation in the International Baccalaureate program and has since been decreasing the number of Advanced Placement classes offered in the curriculum.
The Jewish Week is a weekly independent community newspaper targeted towards the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. The Jewish Week covers news relating to the Jewish community in NYC. In March 2016, The Jewish Week announced its partnership with the online newspaper The Times of Israel. Later in 2016, The Jewish Week acquired the New Jersey Jewish News. In July 2020, The Jewish Week suspended publication of its weekly print publication, and in January 2021 announced its acquisition by 70 Faces Media, the publisher of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and other Jewish brands, under whose umbrella it continues as an all-digital brand.
de Toledo High School, formerly New Community Jewish High School and informally known as "New Jew", is a private Jewish high school in the West Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, in the western San Fernando Valley, California. One of the largest Jewish day schools in the United States, the school adopted its new name as of July 1, 2015.
The Institute of Traditional Judaism, also known as The Metivta or the ITJ, was the rabbinical school sponsored by the Union for Traditional Judaism.
Daniel Landes is the former director of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem and New York City.
Rambam Mesivta is a private Jewish High School in Inwood, New York. Rambam Mesivta was founded in 1991, designed with an all-boys Mesivta program that offers classes in religious Jewish studies and college preparatory studies. Students attend from Queens, Brooklyn, Great Neck, Five Towns, West Hempstead, and Greater Long Island.
Alissa Thomas-Newborn is an American Orthodox Jewish spiritual leader who became the first Orthodox female clergy member to preside in the Los Angeles, California area when she assumed her post as a spiritual leader at B’nai David-Judea Congregation (BDJ) in August 2015. The announcement of her appointment came on May 2, 2015 from the pulpit by the lead clergyman of the synagogue, Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky.
Lila Kagedan is a Canadian-born Jewish rabbi who in 2016 became the first woman with the title rabbi to be hired by an Orthodox synagogue. This occurred when Mount Freedom Jewish Center in New Jersey, which is open Modern Orthodox, hired Kagedan to join their "spiritual leadership team." She is currently the rabbi at Walnut Street Synagogue, an Open Orthodox synagogue in Massachusetts.
The Yeshiva University High School of Los Angeles is a college-preparatory, Modern Orthodox Jewish high school founded in 1979 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. It has no affiliation with Yeshiva University in New York City.
Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva High School for Boys is an Orthodox Jewish high school in Woodmere, New York.
Nathaniel Helfgot is an American rabbi. He leads Congregation Netivot Shalom of Teaneck, New Jersey, and served as president of the International Rabbinic Fellowship.
