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Hershel Schachter

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Not to be confused with Rabbi Herschel Schacter

Rabbi Hershel Schachter (born 1941) is a Rosh Yeshiva at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), Yeshiva University, in New York City. He is a noted Talmudic scholar and a prominent posek including his work in the kashruth division of the Orthodox Union where he and Rabbi Yisroel Belsky are the highest Halachic authorities.

At the age of 22, Rabbi Schachter was appointed as an assistant to the renowned Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik. Rabbi Schachter earned his B.A. from Yeshiva College, an M.A. in Hebrew Literature from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies in 1967, and received Semicha in that same year.

In 1967, at the age of 26, Rabbi Schachter joined the faculty of RIETS, as its youngest Rosh Yeshiva. In 1971, Rabbi Schachter was appointed Rosh Kollel, or dean of the Kollel, at the Institute for Advanced Research in Rabbinics.

He spends as much time as he can, in learning. Neighbours in Washington Heights, in Upper Manhattan, are used to see him with a book (Sefer) in his hands, reading, while he accompany his wife shopping. He is a perpetual "Masmid".

He is widely respected in both the Modern Orthodox and Haredi worlds for his wide and deep knowledge of Talmud, his nonliberal stance towards halacha, and his close relationship with Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik.

Halachic Opinions

  • He has given talks and written articles that one should not report criminal activity that would lead to jail time for a fellow Jew since he will suffer more in prison because of the Antisemitism. He also thinks that one should not report a crime such as embezzlement from gentiles, since that would not be a major crime in Jewish law. He does, however, allow one to inform authorities about sexual abuse cases. [1][2]
  • He does not allow doctors or medical students to work on the Sabbath.[3] [4]

    Medical students are certainly not exempt from Shabbos observance. And even after having completed his school years, the future doctor must take special care to make sure he has a Sabbath-observant residency. If this can not be arranged, the student must simply look for a different profession.

  • He does not accept brain death as a criteria for death, so he does not permit organ donation from brain dead patients.[5][6]
  • One may not cheat on one's taxes because in the United States taxes are used for services to the taxpayer and becuase if one person cheats then other people will have to bear the tax burden. [7] This was an implicit condemnation of Rabbi Dovid Cohen's speech in a Teaneck syangogue which argued for the halachic permissibility of tax evasion from the Gentile government. (source?)
  • He is lenient concerning the use of enzymes in food processing.[8]
  • Schachter is notable for his opinion that one must refrain from eating all dairy products due to considerations about the percentage of contemporary dairy cows that are found to be non-Kosher.
  • Permitting the building of some (but not all) eruvs in New York City, Schachter has significantly departed from the precedent set by Rabbis Moshe Feinstein and Aharon Kotler, endorsing the lenient view of Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz, the Hazon Ish. Controversially, Schachter has endorsed an eruv on one side of Washington Heights while remaining mum on the status of the eruv built in the Bennett avenue area of the same neighborhood. [9], [10]
  • Turkey, long a Halachic conundrum, is eschewed by Schachter. This New World bird lacks a tradition as to its permissibility, and Schachter views that as reason to avoid it.
  • Schachter is adamant that the rules of "Pikuach Nefesh" do not apply to the Israeli military because of what he sees as a perpetual war between Israel and her neighbors.
  • Noted in a secular college for his opposition to much of Western Culture, Schachter has spoken out against the liberal arts, especially Christological art. In Yeshiva College his students are noted for covering their eyes during art appreciation classes needed to fulfill the college's art requirement.
  • He has rejected all movement to egalitarianism including Women's prayer groups, partnership minyanim, women reading the megilah, and women's participation in a marriage ceremony. In his book B'Ikvei hatzaon, Schachter decries these innovations which he views as a "falsification of Torah," that detracts from the classical considerations of "honor of the community" and "rov am."

Controversies

Schachter has been criticized for a series of infelicitous but extemporaneous statements.

  • In 2004, Schachter was lambasted when he said that the marriage would be valid if a women read the ketubah because "even if a parrot or a monkey would read the ketubah" the marriage would still be valid. Some saw this statement as comparing women to monkeys. Schachter's remarks were defended as an attempt to dramatize the halachic insignificance of reading the ketubah; not to imply anything about women.[11].
  • The same year he was involved in a controversy for stating that "Jews and non-Jews "have different genes, DNA and instincts." [12]
  • In 2008, Schachter came under intense scrutiny for remarks he made at Yeshivat HaKotel; saying that if the IDF were to give away Jerusalem, he would "tell them to shoot the Rosh HaMemshalah (Prime Minister of Israel)." These remarks came to light on Youtube having been posted there by a "concerned YU student." Schachter later apologized for what he characterized as "off the cuff remarks." [12]>[13]
  • Prof. Lawrence Kaplan has accused Schachter of a right-wing revisionist attitude toward Rabbi Soloveitchik, in which Schachter denies Soloveitchik’s engagement with modern philosophy. In addition, Kaplan sees Schachter entirely "omit[ting]" the Rav's "significant philosophic" and legal defense of women's Talmud study; a contentious issue in contemporary Modern Orthodox discourse and one that Soloveitchik "maintained with remarkable consistency over...many decades." [14]
  • Opposed to the visit of Catholic Cardinals to Yeshiva University, Schachter views Christianity as idolatry. He is also against the viewing of Christian art.[15]
  • When asked about women's dancing on the holiday of Simchat Torah, he angered people because he said "it springs from the “impure motivations” of rebelliousness and self-aggrandizement rather than a pure desire to connect with God."[16]
  • He angered many when he said that the only Israelis that can vote on national issues in Israel are those "who subscribe to the Thirteen Principles of Faith." Many newspapers considered it a rejection of Zionism.[17]

Works

Rabbi Schachter has written many Seforim. They include:

  • Eretz HaTzvi (1992) (with an approbation by Rabbi Dovid Lifshitz)
  • Nefesh HaRav (1994) - Torah from Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik
  • B’Ikvei HaTzon (1997) (with an approbation by the famed Rabbi Pinchas Hirschsprung, 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, 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,

References

  1. ^ http://www.torahweb.org/mesirah/
  2. ^ http://www.torahweb.org/torah/audio/nobodytalks.html
  3. ^ http://www.torahweb.org/torah/special/2007/rsch_shabbos1.html
  4. ^ http://www.torahweb.org/torah/audio/dds.html
  5. ^ http://www.4syndication.com/news__views_at_yu/organ_donation_conference_at_yeshiva_university_tackles_difficult_issues/11469/v.do
  6. ^ בעקבי הצאן
  7. ^ http://www.torahweb.org/torah/special/2005/rsch_taxes.html
  8. ^ http://www.oukosher.org/btus_issues/Behind-Fall05.pdf
  9. ^ www.msjcwh.org
  10. ^ www.yueruv.org
  11. ^ Schachter, Hershel (2004). "Can Women Be Rabbis?". The TorahWeb Foundation.
  12. ^ a b "Leading Rabbi Apologizes For Shocking Statement". The Jewish Week. 2008-03-05. Retrieved 2008-03-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Katz, Yossi (2008-03-09). "רב מארה"ב: לירות במי שיחלק את ירושלים" (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2008-03-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  14. ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0411/is_3_48/ai_64507449/print
  15. ^ http://www.torahweb.org/torah/special/2004/rsch_mikdash.html
  16. ^ http://www.forward.com/articles/dancing-around-a-delicate-issue/
  17. ^ http://www.think-israel.org/apr05bloged.html#apr05.187


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