Yitzchok Adlerstein

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yitzchok Adlerstein
Born Jeffery Adlerstein
1950
New York City
Residence Los Angeles, California
Nationality Flag of the United States American
Education B.A
Queens College, City University of New York
Occupation Professor, teacher, and author
Employers Loyola Law School, Simon Wiesenthal Center, and Yeshiva of Los Angeles
Title Rabbi
Religious beliefs Orthodox Judaism
Spouse Reena
Children Chaim Dov
Rachel Elisheva
Yehuda
Pesach
Yehonason
Aryeh Zev
Tzvi Aharon
Akiva
Parents Abraham & Trudy

Yitzchok Adlerstein (b. 1950 in New York) is an Orthodox rabbi who has played an important role as spokesman, teacher, and writer on behalf of Orthodox Judaism as well as for the Baal teshuva movement in the United States. He is a leading exponent of the moderation of Haredi Judaism in relation to the outside world.

His writes prolifically for a wide spectrum of Orthodox Jews and his essays have been published in Jewish Action (the official magazine of the Orthodox Union); The Jewish Observer (the official magazine of Agudath Israel of America); the Torah u-Madda Journal (of Yeshiva University); Tradition journal (of the Rabbinical Council of America); the Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, The Jewish Press (and English-language weekly with the largest circulation); in the publications of the National Council of Young Israel and in many other print and online forums. He is the co-founder and a featured writer on Cross-Currents[1], an online journal of Orthodox Jewish thought published in blog format.

Contents

[edit] History

Over the years he has attained a number of key educational and Jewish communal position in the Orthodox establishment that has enabled him to propound his world view, in a style similar to Modern Orthodox Judaism's Rabbi Joseph Telushkin and Dennis Prager, two popular writers and talk show hosts.

Adlerstein served in an advisory and honorary position as one the founding trusteees of the Association for Jewish Outreach Programs (AJOP, known at the time as The Association for Jewish Outreach Professionals) delivering lectures and workshops to Orthodox Jewish outreach rabbis entering into this new field of which he was, and still is, considered a leading exponent and pioneer.

Adlerstein studied and received his advanced rabbinical ordination (Yoreh Yoreh Yadin Yadin) from the Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim (Rabbinical Seminary of America) in New York, an institution that stresses the importance of Jewish outreach.[citation needed] He is a summa cum laude graduate of Queens College, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.[citation needed]

[edit] Controversies

He has often been quoted or a participant in controversial debates that have relevance to Orthodox Jews and their world outlook:

In the days after the ban, Rabbi Slifkin's publisher and distributor dropped the three books mentioned in the open letter. He himself lost several speaking engagements and saw his own rabbi pressured to expel him from his synagogue. "He was crushed," said a friend, Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, a professor of Jewish law and ethics at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "Do you know what it's like to walk through the street and see posters branding you a heretic?" [2]
  • Rabbi Adlerstein is an outspoken opponent of the "Bible Code" and has both written articles [3] and given lectures [4] together with Barry Simon, another noted "Codes" opponent, on the topic.
  • In a public forum Adlerstein criticized the methods and notions behind the workings of the Kabbalah Centre:
But Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Project Next Step, warned of the dangers of polytheism within the Jewish faith. "God doesn’t like mistresses," he said. "Not that it matters to Him, but in our relationship with Him, which is what will give us happiness as Jews, putting our focus elsewhere is not going to cement our relationship with Him."... Adlerstein believes that this kind of dual citizenship is bad for the Jews. He placed the blame for it on a lazy approach toward religion resulting in pop spirituality. "Part of what we’re looking at are the same reason people turn to the Kabbalah Centre," Adlerstein said. "It’s like fast food spiritualism — getting it without the work, the counterculture part of it." [5]

He often writes on complex current events issues in respected journals:

"Americans voted twice. On Election Day, they went to the polls to choose a president. In the weeks that followed, they voted for the manner in which to resolve painful national differences. The first balloting may have been inconclusive; the second was a resounding victory for Law as the Great Decisor." [6]
" In other words, it's an inside job. There are no open hearings, nor does the public have the opportunity to review the record and legal philosophy of the candidates. A liberal secular elite continues a self-serving tradition of choosing candidates from within its own ranks, to the consternation of much of the country." [7]
"Prof. Susannah Heschel, daughter of Jewish Theological Seminary luminary Rabbi A.J. Heschel, brings better news to Bill Clinton than the Senate that acquitted him. Reaching to higher sources, she assures him a Divine pardon...Dr. Heschel contends that Starr’s crime is far more serious than Mr. Clinton’s. Mr. Clinton, she says, transgressed a minor sexual infraction at most. Adultery doesn’t enter the discussion, since Jewish tradition defines it as a sexual act committed with a married woman, while Monica Lewinsky was single. Mr. Starr, she claims, is a murderer, since publicly shaming someone is the equivalent of taking his life. Moreover, worse sinners have been forgiven by history (Jews never threw King David out of the Bible, did they?), while murder "is a sin that can never be forgiven."[8]
"Just in case we might think that the innumerable acts of violence depicted on TV might tend to desensitize some people to the taking of human life, Howard Rosenberg (April 23) offered incontrovertible proof to the contrary. 'There are probably ten depictions of goodness on TV for every one of hatred. Thus, if TV is the icon that some insist, it must be making us nicer, right? Or is hate a more powerful influence than love?' ...We can be pretty sure that Rosenberg was not studying the Talmud during all those station breaks. Pity. He missed a good deal of Jewish insight." ."[9]
"Rudy Giuliani typically elevates confrontation to an art form. The recent ‘Sensation’ exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Art can best be described as confrontational art. When the two face off against each other, can Jews not get caught in the middle?" [10]
"If disbelief characterized your response to the stories about the controversial new history textbooks in Israel, pat yourself on the back. You were right to trust your instincts...If Israeli kids are going to continue believing in an inalienable right of the Jews to their land, they are going to have to sink roots in a history that goes back much further than ’48 or the travails of the Diaspora. For millennia, Jews predicated their tie to the Land upon confidence in the veracity of the Biblical narrative and their Divinely ordained mission to the world. Ironically, it may have to be religion that saves secular Zionism." [11]
"A Brave New World is coming soon to a medical genetics emporium in your neighborhood. And it will end life as we know it...Leon Kass always makes us think, but his latest contribution is downright painful. "The Moral Meaning of Genetic Technology" (Commentary, Sept. ’99) is not only enlightening, but humbling to many of us who have danced around the periphery of the problem. We discover that we have all missed the boat of sound thinking. The problems, he shows, are far more serious than we realized..." [12]

[edit] Present

Adlerstein is the director of Interfaith Affairs for the Simon Wiesenthal Center. He holds the Sydney M. Irmas Chair in Jewish Law and Ethics at Loyola Law School and teaches senior high school girls at Yeshiva of Los Angeles.

He writes regularly for the Cross-Currents[13] online journal, and writes the "Bytes & PCs" column in the quarterly Jewish Action magazine. He is frequently quoted by the Los Angeles Times and many other print and online publications as a voice of Haredi Judaism [14].

In 2000, his translation of "Be'er Hagolah" (ISBN 1-57819-463-6) the classic defense of Rabbinic Judaism by Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel (1525 - 1609) (known as the Maharal) was published by Mesorah Publications, a subsidiary of ArtScroll the leading publishers of English language Orthodox Judaica.

He currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife Reena, known for her exceptional culinary skills and hospitality.

[edit] Interfaith work

Adlerstein participated in a 2005 "National Media Prayer Breakfast" represented by leaders of an interfaith group where it was noted:

"Atlanta Jewish Life magazine 'the go-to guy for the media . . . looking for a sane Orthodox voice for comment.' His reasoned approach to issues of faith and life qualify him to be the Director of Interfaith Affairs for the Simon Wiesenthal Center and of Project Next Step at Yeshiva of Los Angeles. He holds the Sydney M. Irmas Chair in Jewish Law and Ethics at Loyola Law School, and serves as a faculty member at Yeshiva of Los Angeles in its secondary education...He lectures and writes on topics as diverse as the application of Jewish law to contemporary ethical dilemma and the use of computers in Jewish life. He is probably the most interviewed and quoted spokesperson for Torah issues in Southern California and has appeared on ABC's 20/20 and CBS News." [15]

He's also been written about by InFocus, "The Largest Muslim Newspaper in California" [1], the Los Angeles Jewish Journal [2], and Korean minister Rev. Yong-Soo Hyun [3] who published several books featuring Rabbi Adlerstein.

[edit] Publications

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cross-Currents. Cross-Currents.com.
  2. ^ Religion and Natural History Clash Among the Ultra-Orthodox. nytimes.com.
  3. ^ Bible Codes. Cross-Currents.com.
  4. ^ Chance Lecture Series. Dartmouth.edu.
  5. ^ When Witches Blend Torah and Tarot. jewishjournal.com.
  6. ^ Blame it on the Jews. jlaw.com.
  7. ^ Israel's Jewish Problem and the Archbishop of Canterbury. jlaw.com.
  8. ^ Clinton Two, Religion Zero. jlaw.com.
  9. ^ Lessons from Columbine. jlaw.com.
  10. ^ Shem, Ham, Japheth, and Rudy. jlaw.com.
  11. ^ Saving the Dream. jlaw.com.
  12. ^ Genetic Engineering and its Malcontents. jlaw.com.
  13. ^ Cross-Currents. Cross-Currents.com.
  14. ^ Resources and experts. ethicscenter.net.
  15. ^ NATIONAL MEDIA PRAYER BREAKFAST. mastermediaintl.org.

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Adlerstein, Yitzchok
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Yitzchak Adlerstein, Jeff Adlerstein, Jefferey Adlerstein
SHORT DESCRIPTION Orthodox Jewish rabbi, professor, and author
DATE OF BIRTH 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH