Yaakov Yosef Reinman is an American Orthodox rabbi and writer, historian, and scholar. His monographs and articles have appeared in many Jewish periodicals and his study of Talmudic contractual law is a text used in yeshivas throughout the world. In authoring his Ruach Ami series, he writes under the pen name Avner Gold.
Reinman is the author of the sefer Shufra Dishtara, an analytical study of the philosophy of Talmudic contractual law, which is utilized as a text in yeshiva studies. He also co-authored the book One People, Two Worlds: A Reform rabbi and an Orthodox rabbi explore the issues that divide them with Reform Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch. [1] A fluent speaker of several languages, Reinman has also become known as a translator for ancient Jewish texts into English.
He is a descendant of the Narol Hasidic dynasty. His first wife was the former Shlomtze Rubin of Brooklyn. He lives in Lakewood NJ with his wife Zvia, formerly of Los Angeles.
Reinman lives in Lakewood Township, New Jersey. [2]
In authoring the Ruach Ami series of historical novels, Reinman uses the pen name Avner Gold.
The Ruach Ami series focuses on the plight of the Jewish people of Europe during the middle 17th century. Although the central characters mostly hail from Poland, the series detours to many other European countries including Turkey, Spain, Austria, France, the Netherlands and the Germanic states.
There are 12 books in the Ruach Ami series.
In 2000 [3] a literary agent introduced Rabbi Reinman to Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, a Reform rabbi and executive director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA), [4] with the idea of collaborating on a book airing the Orthodox and Reform viewpoints on various issues. Their email correspondence over the next 18 months resulted in the book One People, Two Worlds: A Reform rabbi and an Orthodox rabbi explore the issues that divide them. [5] The book was hailed by the religious left as a breakthrough in Orthodox recognition of religious pluralism, while generating criticism in Orthodox circles for Reinman's willingness to conduct an official rabbinic dialogue with Reform. [6] The book was denounced by the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel of America [7] and the heads of Beth Medrash Govoha, Lakewood, New Jersey, where Reinman received his rabbinic ordination. [8] Reinman subsequently pulled out of a 14-city promotional tour after two appearances, leaving Hirsch to continue the tour on his own. [9] [10]
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of works authored by rabbis throughout Jewish history. The term typically refers to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writings. It aligns with the Hebrew term Sifrut Chazal, which translates to “literature [of our] sages” and generally pertains only to the sages (Chazal) from the Talmudic period. This more specific sense of "Rabbinic literature"—referring to the Talmud, Midrashim, and related writings, but hardly ever to later texts—is how the term is generally intended when used in contemporary academic writing. The terms mefareshim and parshanim almost always refer to later, post-Talmudic writers of rabbinic glosses on Biblical and Talmudic texts.
A yeshiva is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha, while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The studying is usually done through daily shiurim as well as in study pairs called chavrusas. Chavrusa-style learning is one of the unique features of the yeshiva.
Aharon Kotler was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and a prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Lithuania and the United States; the latter being where he founded Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey.
Ner Israel Rabbinical College, also known as NIRC and Ner Yisroel, is a Haredi yeshiva in Pikesville, Maryland. It was founded in 1933 by Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman, a disciple of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, dean of the Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania. Rabbi Aharon Feldman, a disciple of Rabbi Ruderman and a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of America, became its head in 2001.
In Jewish law and history, Acharonim are the leading rabbis and poskim living from roughly the 16th century to the present, and more specifically since the writing of the Shulchan Aruch in 1563 CE.
Yaakov Kamenetsky, was a prominent rabbi, rosh yeshiva, posek and Talmudist in the post-World War II American Jewish community.
Yeshiva Torah Vodaas is a yeshiva in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
Rabbi Nosson Scherman is an American Haredi rabbi best known as the general editor of ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications. He is widely considered to be the father of modern-day English Torah literature.
Ammiel Hirsch is an American Reform rabbi and attorney. He is the senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue and former executive director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America/World Union for Progressive Judaism, North America. In 2024, The Jerusalem Post named him among “The 50 Most Influential Jews of the Year.” In 2016, City & State New York magazine praised him as “the borough's most influential voice” for Manhattan's more than 300,000 Jews, and, in 2015, the New York Observer named him among “New York’s Most Influential Religious Leaders.” He has written two books: "The Lilac Tree: A Rabbi's Reflections on Love, Courage, and History" (2023) and "One People, Two Worlds: A Reform Rabbi and an Orthodox Rabbi Explore the Issues That Divide Them" (2003), which he co-authored with Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Reinman.
Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, author and founder of ArtScroll Publications.
Feldheim Publishers is an American Orthodox Jewish publisher of Torah books and literature. Its extensive catalog of titles includes books on Jewish law, Torah, Talmud, Jewish lifestyle, Shabbat and Jewish holidays, Jewish history, biography, and kosher cookbooks. It also publishes children's books. The company's headquarters is located in New York, with publishing and sales divisions in Jerusalem. Its president is Yitzchak Feldheim.
The Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary was founded in Berlin on 22 October 1873 by Rabbi Dr. Israel Hildesheimer for the training of rabbis in the tradition of Orthodox Judaism.
Matisyahu Chaim Salomon was an English-born American rabbi, author and public speaker. He served as the mashgiach ruchani of Beth Medrash Govoha, one of the world's largest yeshivas, located in Lakewood, New Jersey, United States. An opponent of unrestrained internet access in the Orthodox Jewish community, he spearheaded a campaign to have internet filters installed on all computers and smartphones.
Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg (1884–1966) was an Ashkenazi Orthodox rabbi, posek and rosh yeshiva. He is best known as the author of the work of responsa Seridei Eish.
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.
Beth Medrash Govoha is a Haredi Jewish Lithuanian yeshiva in Lakewood Township, New Jersey. It was founded by Rabbi Aharon Kotler in 1943 and is the second-largest yeshiva in the world, after Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem. As of 2019, it had 6,715 students, 2,748 regular and 3,967 in Kollel status. The principal Rosh yeshiva since 1982 is Rabbi Malkiel Kotler. Talmud and halakha studies in the institution are carried in the form of over 200 small groups, Chaburos, which consist of several students mentored by a veteran, each pursuing its own specific curriculum with an emphasis on individual learning.
In Jewish law, a posek is a legal scholar who determines the application of halakha, the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah, in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities are inconclusive, or in those situations where no clear halakhic precedent exists.
Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Hillel is the head of the Kabbalistic Yeshiva Ahavat Shalom in Jerusalem. He has been described as a prolific author and publisher of sefarim. The majority of his works are about Kabbalah.