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Rabbi Aryeh Klapper is an Orthodox rabbi, a Jewish court judge ("dayan"), and teacher of rabbinics in Jewish day schools near Boston, MA.

Center for Modern Torah Leadership

Currently, Rabbi Klapper is the Dean of the Center for Modern Torah Leadership, an organization founded by Rabbi Klapper to "to model and foster a vision of fully committed halakhic Judaism that embraces the intellectual and moral challenges of modernity as spiritual opportunities, takes responsibility for the societal implications of its interpretations of Torah, understands that the real-world effects of Torah are mediated by the character of Torah leaders, and that self-knowledge is therefore essential for Torah leadership, and takes the ultimate significance of all human beings as tzelem Elokim as a fundamental Torah principle." He serves as the Rosh Beit Midrash of the Center's Summer Beit Midrash Program since 1997.

Jewish Studies Teacher

As a teacher of talmud and Jewish law, Klapper has also served as the Instructor of Rabbinics and Medical Ethics at Gann Academy, a pluralistic Jewish high school in Waltham, MA for the past 8 years. Previously, he worked as Talmud Curriculum Chair at Maimonides High School from 1994-2003.

Dayan

He is a long-standing member of the Boston Beit Din and has been a central member of its court since 2001. While in New York, before his arrival in Boston, he was a member of the Rabbinic Court of Elizabeth, NJ, which is led by Rabbi Howard Jachter.

Hillel Work

Klapper also served as Orthodox Adviser and Associate Director for Education at Harvard Hillel from 1995 until 2005. He has also served as a teacher and/or campus Orthodox rabbi at Brandeis University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Personal Life

Rabbi Klapper is lives with his wife Deborah Klapper has four children in Sharon, MA, where he serves as Rosh Beit Midrash of the Summer Beit Midrash in the Young Israel of Sharon.

Publications, Conferences, and Fellowships

Academic Publications and Academic Conference Presentation

How Should Ethically Challenging Texts be Taught? (January, 2008). Teaching Rabbinic Literature: Bridging Scholarship and Pedagogy, Brandeis University
Respondent to Moshe Sokolow, Tradition and Innovation in Rabbinic Literature: The Or ha-Hayyim on Parshanut Ha-mikra, Biblical Exegesis. (January, 2008). Teaching Rabbinic Literature: Bridging Scholarship and Pedagogy, Brandeis University.
The Meiri’s Halakhah about Christians and Christianity: A Response to Halbertal .(2007).
Association for Jewish Studies 39th Annual Conference. The Promise of Abraham: A Review Essay. (Winter, 2007). Tradition.
Conversation: Ethics and War. (January, 2007). Meorot
בענין ממזרות ובדיקת רקמות, בית יצחק , 2007
בענין קטלנית ואמונה באסטרולוגיה, בית יצחק, 2007
Torture: Is it Always Immoral? (November, 2006). University of Scranton, Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute Symposium
יום טוב שני בארץ ישראל לבן חוץ לארץ, בית יצחק, 2005
A Review of Rational Rabbis ( 2005). Dinei Israel 23
Revisiting Confrontation after Forty Years: A Response to Rabbi Eugene Korn. (November, 2003). Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik on Interreligious Dialogue: Forty Years Later, Boston College Center for Christian-Jewish Learning
MetaHalakhah:A Review Essay. (Spring, 2000). Tradition
Eulogy as Philosophy: The PluralisticPhenomenology of R. Soloveitchik’s Halakhic Mind.” (2000) Association for Jewish Studies 32nd Annual Conference
Amnon and Tamar: A Case Study in Allusions (co-authored with Posner, G. & Friedman, M.) (1999). Nachalah
Philosophy and Torah Study in the Thought of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. (1998), Association for Jewish Studies 30th Annual Conference.
Truth,Tradition and Law in Contemporary Halakhic Judaism: Two Theological Models. (1996). Association for Jewish Studies 28th Annual Conference.
הזקן ממרא כגבור המסורת: פתיחה למאמר מקיף על יחס ההלכה למתנגדים לה לשמה, בית יצחק 1994
בענין מצות שופר", בית יצחק, 1990"
הידור מצוה ו"הדר", בית יצחק 1988"

Fellowships and Awards

Wexner Graduate Fellowship, 1989-93
BRGS Fellowship, 1988-89
Professor Michael Bernstein Award for Excellence in Bible (BRGS), 1989
Max Stern Scholarship, 1984-88
Isaac Araten Award for Excellence in Bible (YC), 1988
Isaac Bacon Award for Excellence in Humanities (YC), 1988
Academy of American Poets Award (YC), 1988