Mordechai Willig
| Rabbi Mordechai Willig | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Position | Rabbi |
| Synagogue | Young Israel of Riverdale |
| Position | Rosh Yeshiva |
| Yeshiva | RIETS |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 25, 1947 New York |
| Nationality |  United States of America |
| Denomination | Orthodox |
| Residence | Riverdale, New York |
| Semicha | RIETS |
Mordechai Willig (April 25, 1947) is an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University in Washington Heights, Manhattan.
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[edit] Education
Born in New York, Willig received a B.A. in mathematics in 1968 from Yeshiva College and an M.S. in Jewish history in 1971 from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. He was a student of the late Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.
[edit] Positions
In 1973, Willig was appointed as rosh yeshiva at the Mazer School of Talmudic studies at Yeshiva University and holds that position, along with the position of rosh kollel at RIETS. His formal title is the Rabbi Dr. Sol Roth Professor of Talmud and Contemporary Halachah.
Willig is the rabbi and spiritual leader at the Young Israel of Riverdale Synagogue, in Riverdale, The Bronx, New York, since 1974.
Willig is also the deputy av beis din of the Beth Din of America.
[edit] Books
Willig is the author of a sefer entitled Am Mordechai, which came out in three volumes (1992 on Brachot, 2005 on Shabbat and 2010 on Seder Moed).
[edit] Lanner case
In 1989, Rabbi Willig led a Bet Din that heard allegations of abuse by Rabbi Baruch Lanner.[1] The Bet Din found Lanner guilty of three charges and found three other charges to be unsubstantiated.[2] The Bet Din read their determination to the litigants, to the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County, and to Lanner's two employers, the Orthodox Union and a synagogue in New Milford, New Jersey.[2]
On February 19, 2003, Rabbi Willig publicly apologized for reaching what he eventually realized to be incorrect conclusions and for other "mistakes" made during the 1989 Bet Din proceedings. He noted that since the Bet Din did not have experience adjudicating matters of abuse, they should not have agreed to take the case.[2][3]
[edit] Family
Rabbi Willig resides with his wife in Riverdale, New York, New York. They have nine children and 37 grandchildren. Four of his children live in Israel, teaching at various Yeshivos, among them Yeshivat Torat Shraga in Jerusalem and Yeshivat Reishit Yerushalayim in Beit Shemesh.
He is the first cousin of Rabbi Avi Weiss, who heads the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale and is the dean of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah.
[edit] References
- ^ Smothers, Ronald (October 12, 2002). "Rabbi Convicted of Sexual Abuse Is Freed on Bail Pending Appeal". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00EFD9123AF931A25753C1A9649C8B63. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
- ^ a b c "Willig Apology". http://www.torahweb.org/torah/special/2003/rwil_stmtSicha2.html. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
- ^ Cattan, Nacha (February 28, 2003). "Top Rabbi Admits Errors In Handling Lanner Case". The Forward. http://www.forward.com/articles/9345. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
