Modern Orthodox Judaism - Important Figures

Important Figures

Many Orthodox Jews find the intellectual engagement with the modern world as a virtue. Examples of Orthodox rabbis who promote or have promoted this worldview include:

• Rabbi Marc D. Angel - former president of the Rabbinical Council of America, rabbi of Shearith Israel (a Spanish-Portuguese synagogue in New York), and a co-founder of the IRF (International Rabbinic Fellowship).
• Rabbi Yehuda Amital - A Hungarian survivor of the Holocaust, Rabbi Amital emigrated to Israel in 1944, and resumed his yeshiva studies in Jerusalem. During the War of Independence, he served in the Hagana armored corps, taking part in the famous battle of Latrun. Subsequently, he took an active role in the development of Yeshivat Hadarom, where he was involved in the formulation of the idea of Yeshivat Hesder. Following the Six Day War, Rabbi Amital founded and assumed leadership of Yeshivat Har Etzion. He was a dominant public figure in Israel who was widely respected on matters of religious and national concern.
• Raymond Apple - former senior rabbi of the Great Synagogue, Sydney, Australia, and the pre-eminent Jewish spokesperson on Judaism in Australia.
• Dr. Samuel Belkin, former President of Yeshiva University
• Eliezer Berkovits - philosopher, author of many works including Not In Heaven: The Nature and Function of Halakha and Faith after the Holocaust.
• Saul Berman - director of the now defunct Edah, a Modern Orthodox advocacy organization.
• Rabbi Dr. J. David Bleich, professor at Yeshiva University and expert in Jewish law
• Rabbi Dr. Shalom Carmy - professor of Jewish Studies and Philosophy at Yeshiva University; a prominent Modern Orthodox theologian and student of The Rav
• Dr. Barry Freundel - Rabbi of Kesher Israel in Washington D.C.. He is the author of Contemporary Orthodox Judaism's Response to Modernity, Why We Pray What We Pray and numerous other scholarly publications. He received his smicha from Yeshiva University and his Phd from Baltimore Hebrew University where he serves as an Assistant Professor of Rabbinics. A well-respected theologian and sought after lecturer, he was recognized by the Orthodox Union for his enormous impact on Jewish life. His diverse lecture topics includes issues on Jewish medical ethics, eruvim, and conversion.
• Rabbi David Hartman - Rabbi and founder of Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, a prominent philosopher, lecturer, and author. A student of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik
• Rabbi Leo Jung, Rabbi at the Jewish Center (Manhattan, New York)
• Rabbi Norman Lamm - Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshiva University ; Orthodox Forum; author of Torah U-Maddah. One of the leading voices for the validity and importance of Modern Orthodoxy.
• Rabbi Dr. Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein - Lichtenstein grew up in the United States, earning Semicha at Yeshiva University, and a Ph.D. in English Literature at Harvard. He is committed to intensive and original Torah study, and articulates a bold Jewish worldview that embraces modernity, reflecting the tradition of his teacher and father-in-law, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. In 1971, Lichtenstein answered Rabbi Amital's request to join him at the helm of Yeshivat Har Etzion. He is a source of inspiration for a wide circle of Jewry, for both his educational attainments and his intellectual leadership. Author of Leaves of Faith - The World of Jewish Learning, and By His Light: Character and Values in the Service of God.
• Rabbi Haskel Lookstein - Rabbi of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan and principal of the Ramaz School. Voted by Newsweek magazine as the most influential orthodox rabbi in the United States in 2008. Rabbi Lookstein is best known for his strong political activism which began with numerous visits to the former Soviet Union, numerous rallies on behalf of Natan Sharansky and continues today with activism on behalf of the Jews of Israel and worldwide.
• Rabbi Shlomo Riskin - Formerly rabbi of the Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan, he emigrated to Israel to become the Chief Rabbi of Efrat.
• Rabbi Hershel Schachter - one of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik's most prominent students, dean of the Katz Kollel at the Yeshiva University-affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanon Theological Seminary (RIETS). Has published several works attempting to establish a definitive view of Rabbi Soloveitchik's Weltanschauung.
• Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik - Known as "The Rav", he was effectively the spiritual and intellectual guide of Modern Orthodoxy in America for the mid-20th century. He is the author of "The Lonely Man of Faith" and "Halakhic Man," an outspoken Zionist, an opponent of extending rabbinic authority into areas of secular expertise, and a proponent of some interdenominational cooperation, such as the Rabbinical Council of America participation in the now-defunct Synagogue Council of America. He was known as a stern leader who described in his writings the spiritual loneliness and internal isolation of the modern religious "man of faith".
• HaRav Gedalia Dov Schwartz - an eminent Modern Orthodox rabbi, scholar, and posek (halakhic authority) in Chicago, Illinois. Since 1991 he has been the av beis din (head of the rabbinical court) of both the Beth Din of America and the Chicago Rabbinical Council.
• Rav Dr. Moshe David Tendler - Rav Tendler is the Rabbi Isaac and Bella Tendler Professor of Jewish Medical Ethics, and is a Professor of Biology, as well as being a Rosh Yeshiva in Yeshivat Rav Yitzchak Elchanan (MYP/RIETS). Holding a PhD in Microbiology, Rav Tendler is among the most prominent students of both Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt'l (his father-in-law) and Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik. Rabbi Tendler is an expert on medical ethics as it pertains to Jewish law. He is the author of Practical Medical Halakhah, a textbook of Jewish responsa to medical issues, and "Pardes Rimonim", a book about the halakhot of Taharat Mishpacha. Rabbi Tendler is currently Rabbi of the Community Synagogue in Monsey, NY, and is the chairman of the Bioethical Commission, RCA, and of the Medical Ethics Task Force, UJA-Federation of Greater New York.
• Joseph Telushkin - Author, teacher, lecturer.
• Marc B. Shapiro - Author, lecturer
• Rabbi Avi Weiss - Dean, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. Rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale Bronx, NY. Author, teacher, lecturer, and activist.
• Joel B. Wolowelsky - Yeshiva of Flatbush; Orthodox Forum; Tradition; MeOtzar HoRav.
• Rabbi Walter Wurzburger- former pulpit Rabbi, editor of Tradition magazine and head of the RCA.
• Rabbi Steven Weil - Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union