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Hershel Schachter (born ) is a rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
 and rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the Dean of a Yeshiva . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh ? meaning head, and yeshiva ? a school of religious Jewish education....
 at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary , or Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, is the most important yeshiva component of Yeshiva University and a preeminent seminary for the training of Orthodox Judaism rabbis....
 (RIETS), Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a leading research institution, ranked 50th in the United States among national universities in 2008.....
, in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
, and the son of the late Rabbi Melech Schachter, who was also a rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva. A noted Talmud
Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
ic scholar and a prominent posek
Posek

Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
, he is also a halakhic
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 advisor for the kashrut
Kashrut

Kashrut refers to Judaism Taboo food and drink. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English language, from the Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation of the Hebrew language term kash?r , meaning "fit" ....
 division of the Orthodox Union
Orthodox Union

The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America , more popularly known as the Orthodox Union, or OU, is one of the oldest Orthodox Judaism organizations in the United States....
.

Schachter became an assistant to Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik
Joseph Soloveitchik

Joseph Ber Soloveitchik w was an United States Orthodox Judaism rabbi, Talmudist and modern Jewish philosophy. He was a descendant of the Lithuanian Jews Brisk yeshivas....
 at the age of 22. Schachter earned a B.A. from Yeshiva College and an M.A. in Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
 Literature
Literature

Literature is the art of written works. Literally translated, the word means "acquaintance with letters" . In Western culture the most basic written literary types include fiction and non-fiction....
 from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies
Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies

The Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies was Yeshiva University?s first graduate school. Founded in 1937, it was named for Yeshiva University's first president, Bernard Revel....
 in 1967.

After receiving semicha
Semicha

Semicha , also semichut , or semicha lerabbanut is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism....
 in 1967 at the age of 26, Schachter became the youngest rosh yeshiva at RIETS, and was appointed rosh kollel, or dean of the kollel
Kollel

A kollel is an institute for advanced Torah study of the Talmud and of rabbinic literature for Jewish men, essentially a post-graduate yeshiva which pays married men a regular monthly stipend or annual salary to study Judaism's classic texts in depth....
, in 1971.

Schachter is widely respected in both the Modern Orthodox
Modern Orthodox Judaism

Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize halakha and Jewish principles of faith with the secular, modern world....
 and Haredi
Haredi Judaism

Haredi or Chareidi Judaism is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
 worlds for his wide and deep knowledge of Talmud, his nonliberal stance towards halakha
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
, and his close relationship with Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik.

posek
Posek

Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
, R.






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Encyclopedia


Hershel Schachter (born ) is a rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
 and rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the Dean of a Yeshiva . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh ? meaning head, and yeshiva ? a school of religious Jewish education....
 at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary , or Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, is the most important yeshiva component of Yeshiva University and a preeminent seminary for the training of Orthodox Judaism rabbis....
 (RIETS), Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a leading research institution, ranked 50th in the United States among national universities in 2008.....
, in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
, and the son of the late Rabbi Melech Schachter, who was also a rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva. A noted Talmud
Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
ic scholar and a prominent posek
Posek

Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
, he is also a halakhic
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 advisor for the kashrut
Kashrut

Kashrut refers to Judaism Taboo food and drink. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English language, from the Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation of the Hebrew language term kash?r , meaning "fit" ....
 division of the Orthodox Union
Orthodox Union

The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America , more popularly known as the Orthodox Union, or OU, is one of the oldest Orthodox Judaism organizations in the United States....
.

Schachter became an assistant to Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik
Joseph Soloveitchik

Joseph Ber Soloveitchik w was an United States Orthodox Judaism rabbi, Talmudist and modern Jewish philosophy. He was a descendant of the Lithuanian Jews Brisk yeshivas....
 at the age of 22. Schachter earned a B.A. from Yeshiva College and an M.A. in Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
 Literature
Literature

Literature is the art of written works. Literally translated, the word means "acquaintance with letters" . In Western culture the most basic written literary types include fiction and non-fiction....
 from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies
Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies

The Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies was Yeshiva University?s first graduate school. Founded in 1937, it was named for Yeshiva University's first president, Bernard Revel....
 in 1967.

After receiving semicha
Semicha

Semicha , also semichut , or semicha lerabbanut is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism....
 in 1967 at the age of 26, Schachter became the youngest rosh yeshiva at RIETS, and was appointed rosh kollel, or dean of the kollel
Kollel

A kollel is an institute for advanced Torah study of the Talmud and of rabbinic literature for Jewish men, essentially a post-graduate yeshiva which pays married men a regular monthly stipend or annual salary to study Judaism's classic texts in depth....
, in 1971.

Schachter is widely respected in both the Modern Orthodox
Modern Orthodox Judaism

Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize halakha and Jewish principles of faith with the secular, modern world....
 and Haredi
Haredi Judaism

Haredi or Chareidi Judaism is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
 worlds for his wide and deep knowledge of Talmud, his nonliberal stance towards halakha
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
, and his close relationship with Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik.

Halakhic opinions

As a posek
Posek

Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
, R. Schachter has made important halachic decisions in various areas. In the realm of medicine, R. Schachter does not allow doctors or medical students to work on the Sabbath unless they need to save a life. Also R. Schachter believes that the living status of a brain dead individual is a safek, a matter of doubt, and thus requires that all decisions be made with the same stringencies applied to all cases where life-and-death is in doubt. This, ipso facto
Ipso facto

Ipso Facto is a Latin phrase, directly translated as "by the fact itself," which means that a certain effect is a direct consequence of the action in question, instead of being brought about by a subsequent action such as the verdict of a tribunal....
, forbids the organ donations of brain dead individuals, by considering them as possibly still halachically
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 alive. Regarding monetary law and taxation, R. Schachter believes that a graduated system of income taxes is "fair and reasonable" and thus falls under the ęgis of dina d'malchusa dina, the requirement to conform to the laws of the land, and thus everyone must pay taxes. Regarding kashrut
Kashrut

Kashrut refers to Judaism Taboo food and drink. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English language, from the Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation of the Hebrew language term kash?r , meaning "fit" ....
, R. Schachter is lenient concerning the use of enzymes in food processing, notable for his personal stringency that one must refrain from eating all dairy products due the percentage of contemporary dairy cows that are found to be non-Kosher, and hence the milk is not kosher. Regarding other areas of religious law, R. Schachter holds that a woman is not allowed to serve as the president of a synagogue unless there is absolutely no other choice, and has rejected movement to egalitarianism including Women's prayer groups, a partnership minyan
Partnership minyan

Partnership minyan is a term used by the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance to describe a prayer group that, according to its adherents, conforms to the strictures of Orthodox Judaism while still allowing for parts of the Jewish services to be led by both men and women....
, women reading the megilah, and women's participation in a marriage ceremony. In his book B'Ikvei Hatzaon, R. Schachter decries these innovations which he views as a "falsification of Torah."

Controversial statements


R. Schachter has made a series of infelicitous but extemporaneous statements. In March 2008, the Jewish Week reported that R. Schachter issued an apology for remarks he made concerning the Prime Minister
Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of Cabinet in the Executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The position is usually held by, but need not always be held by, a politician....
 of Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
. Responding to a question regarding serving in the Israeli army, R. Schachter is seen on a YouTube
YouTube

YouTube is a Video hosting service website where users can upload, view and share video clips. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005....
 video saying: "First you have to know what the army is going to do. If the army is going to destroy Gush Katif, there's no mitzvah
Mitzvah

This article is about commandments in Judaism. For the Jewish rite of passage, see Bar Mitzvah and Bat MitzvahMitzvah is a word used in Judaism to refer to the 613 Mitzvot given in the Torah and the Mitzvah#Rabbinical_mitzvot instituted later for a total of 620....
 to destroy Eretz Yisrael. If the army is going to give away Yerushalayim (Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
), then I would tell everyone to resign from the army - I'd tell them to shoot the Rosh Hamemshalah (Prime Minister of Israel
Prime Minister of Israel

The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and is the most powerful political officer in Israel . He or she wields executive power in the country, and has an official residence in Jerusalem....
)." R. Schacter later issued an apology for the statements, stating that "[t]hey were uttered spontaneously, off the cuff, and were not meant seriously. And, they do not, God forbid, represent my views." R. Schachter has received criticism for other comments as well, relating to women and the differences between Jews and non-Jews.

Works

He has written many books related to Judaism. They include:

  • Eretz HaTzvi (1992) (with an approbation by Rabbi Dovid Lifshitz
    Dovid Lifshitz

    Rabbi Dovid Lifshitz was a distinguished Rosh yeshiva in the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary for almost fifty years. He was appointed upon the invitation of Rabbi Samuel Belkin in 1944....
    )
  • Nefesh HaRav (1994) - Torah from Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik
  • B'Ikvei HaTzon (1997) (with an approbation by the famed Rabbi Pinchas Hirschsprung
    Pinchas Hirschsprung

    Rabbi Pinchas Hirschsprung was a Poland rabbi....
    , the former Chief Rabbi of Montreal)
  • Shiurei ha-Rav ha-Gaon Rabi Yosef Dov ha-Levi Soloveitchik, Masekhet Gittin, chap. 1-4 [based on lectures from 1963-1964] (1999)
  • Shiurei ha-Rav ha-Gaon Rabi Yosef Dov ha-Levi Soloveitchik, Masekhet Kiddushin (2001)
  • MiP'ninei HaRav (2001) - more Torah from Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik
  • Shiurei ha-Rav ha-Gaon Rabi Yosef Dov ha-Levi Soloveitchik, Tzitzet, Tefillen, Kriat haTorah (2002)
  • Shiurei ha-Rav ha-Gaon Rabi Yosef Dov ha-Levi Soloveitchik, Yom HaKippurim, Megillah (2002)
  • Shiurei ha-Rav ha-Gaon Rabi Yosef Dov ha-Levi Soloveitchik, Masekhet Shabbat (2004)
  • Ginas Egoz (2007) (with an approbation by Rabbi Gershon Yankelevitz)


He has also written more than 100 articles, in both Hebrew and English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
, for scholarly Torah publications such as HaPardes, HaDarom, Beit Yitzchak, and Or Hamizrach.

Works about


Lawrence Kaplan, "The Multi-Faceted Legacy of the Rav: A Critical Analysis of R. Hershel Schachter's Nefesh ha-Rav," BDD (Bekhol Derakhekha Daehu: Journal of Torah and Scholarship) 7 (Summer, 1998): 51--85.

Rachel Adler, "Innovation and Authority: A Feminist Reading of the 'Women's Minyan' Responsum" in Walter Jacob and Moshe Zemer, Studies in Progressive Halacha

External links