How Many Yeshiva University Rabbis Are Rabbis?
As the various Jewish institutions continually realign themselves, the proportion of Yeshiva University rabbis actually serving in a communal role — a proportion generally assumed to be exceedingly low — has become a matter deserving some significant consideration.
Well, here’s the list from Sunday’s ceremony. Who are these guys and what do they do now? I’ll update the list with info that comes in. Please provide detailed information of position and institution.
Note that, according to the school:
This year, RIETS ordains 180 musmakhim, the largest group ever to formally celebrate semikhah at RIETS.
The roster reflects a diverse group, ranging in age from 24 to 74. Most are just beginning their careers—the large majority in the congregational rabbinate, Jewish education, the chaplaincy, and communal service.
Others are doctors, lawyers, and accountants who are changing careers or pursuing learning for its own sake. Among them are five physicians, four attorneys, three PhD, two professors at prestigious universities, three Yadin Yadins (highest level of semikhah), eight Sephardic rabbis, a psychologist, a dentist, a former sailor, a retired insurance agent who began semikhah studies at age 70, and a chaplain at Oxford University.
RABBI ADAM W. ACOBAS
RABBI HOWARD D. APFEL
RABBI ERIC A. BABICH
RABBI MICHAEL EZRA BASHIST
RABBI AARON S. BAYER
RABBI PINCHAS J. BEKER
RABBI EZRA BERENHOLZ
RABBI ETAN MOSHE BERMAN
RABBI AVRAHAM BILLET - Teacher.
RABBI REUVEN BLEICH
RABBI AVI MORDECHAI BOSSEWITCH
RABBI REUVEN S. BOSHNACK
RABBI AVRAHAM BRONSTEIN - Teacher.
RABBI REUVEN BRAND
RABBI TANCHUM SHLOMO BURTON
RABBI AZRIEL LAURENCE CHELST
RABBI ELI H. CINER
RABBI AZARYAH MOSHE COHEN
RABBI JEREMY ADAM COHEN
RABBI NAFTALI SHEMARYAH COHN
RABBI GARY DAVIDMAN
RABBI DAVID C. DYCKMAN
RABBI STEVEN MARK EINHORN
RABBI RAPHAEL E. EIS
RABBI STEVEN BARRY EISENBERG
RABBI BARUCH ENGLARD
RABBI JONATHAN DAVID ENGLARD
RABBI JASON LEVI ESSES
RABBI JOSEPH MARC ESSES
RABBI JEREMY M. FEDER
RABBI DAVID S. FEINBERG
RABBI JAY FEIT
RABBI DAVID I. FLAMHOLZ
RABBI OMRI YANIV FLICKER
RABBI ARIE FOLGER
RABBI EZRA HILLEL FRAZER
RABBI MORDECHAI JOSEPH FRIEDMAN
RABBI JUDAH ISAAC FROGEL
RABBI ADAM FRUCHTER
RABBI PINCHAS GELB
RABBI SETH J. GELMAN
RABBI JACOB SETH GIBBER
RABBI RYAN SEAN GIRNUN
RABBI PHILLIP URI GOLDSTEIN - Rabbi.
RABBI AVIAD I. GOLDWICHT
RABBI MARTIN TERNER GOODMAN
RABBI YEHOSHUA GOODMAN
RABBI SETH NEAL GRAUER
RABBI MAURICE JAY GREBENAU
RABBI JEFFREY SCOTT GREENBERG
RABBI AVI BENJAMIN GREENE
RABBI URI DAVID GROSSBERG
RABBI JONATHAN S. GROSS
RABBI ILAN GAVRIEL HABER
RABBI YEHUDA YITZCHAK HALPERT
RABBI ZEV AVIEZER HELLER
RABBI JONATHAN REUVEN HENNER
RABBI DANIEL HERRMANN
RABBI DOV LEVI HOCHBAUM
RABBI SHLOMO Z. HOLLANDER
RABBI GILI HOUPT
RABBI ATON MORDECHAI HOLZER
RABBI JUDAH EPHRAIM HULKOWER
RABBI DANIEL HOFFMAN JACKSON
RABBI JACOB S. JAFFE
RABBI GREGORY ALAN JAFFE
RABBI JOEL JEROZOLIM
RABBI AVERY JOSHUA JOEL
RABBI FRED KAHN
RABBI JOSHUA M. KAHN
RABBI JOSEPH M. KALINSKY
RABBI NATHAN C. KAPUSTIN
RABBI MICHAEL W. KARPEL
RABBI DANIEL ISRAEL KATZ
RABBI JONATHAN DAVID KESSEL
RABBI BARRY KISLOWICZ
RABBI MICHAEL T. KOSLOWE
RABBI JONATHAN ISAAC KRIMSKY
RABBI ADIN ZEVULUN KROHN
RABBI CHAIM LANNER
RABBI AARON M. LEIBOWITZ
RABBI MITCHEL L. LEIBOWITZ
RABBI DAVID LEICHTER
RABBI JONAH JOSHUA LEVANT
RABBI ORAN D. LEVIN
RABBI JOSEPH MICHAEL LEVINE
RABBI AARON MICHAEL LEVITT
RABBI ARYEH NATAN LIGHTSTONE
RABBI CHAIM D. LOIKE
RABBI AVRAHAM LUBARSKY
RABBI BENJAMIN NAFTALI MAYEFSKY
RABBI MICHAEL FRANKLIN MERDINGER
RABBI JEFFREY T. MILLER
RABBI DAVID MINTZ
RABBI ETAN J. MINTZ - Rabbi.
RABBI JASON MINTZ
RABBI DOV MICHAEL MITTLEMAN
RABBI ALEXANDER MONDROW
RABBI SHALOM A. MORRIS
RABBI SHELDON MORRIS
RABBI URI ISAAC MORRIS
RABBI ELLIOT SAMUEL MOSKOWITZ
RABBI LEVI MOSTOFSKY
RABBI YITZCHAK MOTZEN
RABBI ROBERT PHILLIP MUHLBAUER
RABBI DAVID NOAH NACHBAR
RABBI AVI GERSHON OPPENHEIMER
RABBI ELIOT ISRAEL OZAROWSKI
RABBI IAN DANIEL PEAR
RABBI MICHAEL ROBERT PERLSTEIN
RABBI DAVID PIETRUSZKA
RABBI YOSEF POLINSKY
RABBI DAVID KURT POLSKY
RABBI ZEV KALMAN POMERANZ
RABBI CHAIM L. POUPKO
RABBI DANIEL A. PRICE
RABBI JONATHAN DANIEL PRICE
RABBI ARIEL RABIN
RABBI ARIEL ZEEV RACKOVSKY
RABBI DANIEL A. REIFMAN
RABBI DANIEL M. ROCKOFF
RABBI DOVID ROSMAN
RABBI RICHARD ROTHBERGER
RABBI SCOTT JARED ROTHENBERG
RABBI YISRAEL ROTHWACHS
RABBI JONATHAN A. SAPIR
RABBI JUDAH JOSEPH SARNA - Rabbi.
RABBI ROBERT SASSOON
RABBI JONATHAN SCHACHTER
RABBI SHIMON J. SCHENKER
RABBI ELIEZER H. SCHNALL
RABBI MOSHE YOSEF SCHOCHET
RABBI YECHIEL YEHUDA SCHRADER
RABBI DANIEL SCHULTZ
RABBI YITZCHOK SEGAL
RABBI GERALD J. SEPTIMUS
RABBI NOAM SHAPIRO
RABBI YONATAN SHRAGA SHERIZEN
RABBI GIDON YAIR SHOSHAN
RABBI ROBERT B. SHUR
RABBI WILSON LEE SIEGEL
RABBI MICHAEL MENASHE SIEV
RABBI ELIAV SILVERMAN
RABBI DAVID JASON SILVERSTEIN
RABBI BENJAMIN EZEKIEL SKYDELL
RABBI EZRA DANIEL STARR
RABBI BEZALEL ARYEH STECHLER
RABBI EVAN STEELE
RABBI DANIEL NEAL STEIN
RABBI CHAIM BENJAMIN STEPELMAN
RABBI ELIYAHU E. STERN
RABBI CHAIM B. STRAUCHLER
RABBI SAMUEL A. STRAUSS
RABBI JOSHUA D. STRULOWITZ
RABBI RAYMOND C. SULTAN
RABBI DANIEL A. TANNENBAUM
RABBI ARYEH LEIB TAUROG
RABBI MOSHE M. TESSONE
RABBI MOSHE A. TUCHMAN
RABBI JAY K. WAGNER
RABBI JOSHUA A. WALD
RABBI MOSHE WALTER
RABBI JOSHUA WAXMAN
RABBI JOSEPH AARON WEINSTOCK
RABBI YAACOV M. WEISENBERG
RABBI JEFFREY JACOB WEISS
RABBI CHANANYA TZVI WEISSMAN
RABBI ELIE WEISSMAN
RABBI JOSEPH DANIEL WEXLER
RABBI NATHANIEL J. WIEDER-BLANK
RABBI DAVID M. WILENSKY
RABBI AKIVA WILLIG
RABBI YEHUDA WILLIG
RABBI MATISYAHU CRAIG WINER
RABBI ASHER ZEV YABLOK
RABBI OHAD-SHALOM YISHAI
RABBI JOSHUA DOV YUTER
RABBI ARI S. ZAHTZ
RABBI BENJAMIN NATHAN ZIMMERMAN
RABBI HILLEL ZINKIN
RABBI MICHAEL I. ZYLBERMAN
YADIN - YADIN
RABBI ELISHA SIMCHE ANCSELOVITS
RABBI DANIEL ZVI FELDMAN
RABBI MORDECHAI HOCHHEIMER
March 29th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
What exactly is the point of this? can we discuss this in generalities without opening a forum to discuss every person’s personal life? I don’t think that it’s appropriate.
As a current semicha student now who has other professional goals, as well - I would not want to be in the position of people discussing my career choices on a blog ** without my consent**.
March 29th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
YU - The point is to have an answer to the question instead of some guesstimate pulled out of nowhere. And it’s not “personal life” to be a communal leader.
You might not want to be discussed, but assuredly you already are, somewhere, if you’re of any relevance within the institution.
March 29th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
First I should point out that many of the rabbis here are still in school of some sort, be it grad school for things like education or kollel.
Count them as you wish.
Here’s what I can offer from the list based on what I know of or reasonably sure of:
RABBI EZRA HILLEL FRAZER - Teacher
RABBI MORDECHAI JOSEPH FRIEDMAN - Teaching and taking education classes in Israel
RABBI RYAN SEAN GIRNUN - Law school, but after a stint in kollel
RABBI JEFFREY SCOTT GREENBERG - Accountant
RABBI JONATHAN S. GROSS - Rabbi (Omaha Nebraska)
RABBI GILI HOUPT - Rabbi (Ramat Orah)
RABBI ATON MORDECHAI HOLZER - Medical Doctor
RABBI DANIEL HOFFMAN JACKSON - Hard to explain, but let’s say teaching/writing
RABBI BARRY KISLOWICZ - Teaching / Principal
RABBI MICHAEL T. KOSLOWE - Teaching
RABBI CHAIM D. LOIKE - Teaching
RABBI AVRAHAM LUBARSKY - Teaching / Kollel (Israel)
RABBI ALEXANDER MONDROW - Teaching
RABBI LEVI MOSTOFSKY - Works for CJF
RABBI IAN DANIEL PEAR - Rabbi (Israel)
RABBI DAVID KURT POLSKY - OU
RABBI DANIEL A. PRICE - Teaching
RABBI DANIEL A. REIFMAN - Teaching
RABBI DANIEL M. ROCKOFF - YU / CJF (I think)
RABBI SHIMON J. SCHENKER - Teaching
RABBI GERALD J. SEPTIMUS - PhD student, former Rabbi
RABBI ELIAV SILVERMAN - Teaching
RABBI EZRA DANIEL STARR - Teaching
RABBI ELIYAHU E. STERN - PhD student
RABBI CHAIM B. STRAUCHLER - Rabbi (Newport Conn)
RABBI JOSHUA D. STRULOWITZ - Rabbi (San Fran)
RABBI JOSHUA WAXMAN - PhD student
RABBI JOSHUA A. WALD - Teaching
RABBI CHANANYA TZVI WEISSMAN - Teaching
RABBI JOSHUA DOV YUTER - *sigh*
RABBI DANIEL ZVI FELDMAN - Teaching in BMP
March 29th, 2006 at 2:05 pm
To answer YU’s question, I find this information to be worthwhile to a degree. Remember that RIETS students are on YU’s dime. You don’t pay tuiton (for smikha) and most students get a stipend either from the kollel or get other perks via Revel or perhaps some of the other schools. Such amenities are based on the assumption that YU is investing in future Jewish leaders, and as such it is important to realize how well the system is working.
That said people also need to realize that Rabbi jobs are constantly in flux. It is hardly uncommon for people to take breaks from the rabbinate or teaching for financial considerations, nor is it uncommon for businesspeople to take up pulpits again.
Furthermore, occupation is not necessarilly a good indicator of leadership. Ironically I’ve found I can do more good for people by *not* being
burdended with the responsibilities of a formal office. You will also find Rabbis who have gone to law school or med school or academia and became Jewish leaders in those respective fields.
As the Jewish community keeps changing I do think it is equally important to realize that Jewish leadership cannot necessarilly be dichotomized into “Teaching” or “Pulpit.”
March 29th, 2006 at 2:46 pm
RABBI HOWARD D. APFEL- Cardiologist/Teacher in Yeshiva
RABBI ERIC A. BABICH-Teacher
RABBI MICHAEL EZRA BASHIST- Teacher, Frisch
RABBI AARON S. BAYER- Teacher
RABBI PINCHAS J. BEKER- Law student, former Rabbinic Intern, Riverdale Jewish Center
RABBI REUVEN BRAND- Member, Wexner Kollel Elyon
RABBI STEVEN MARK EINHORN- Rabbi, West Side Institutional Synagogue
RABBI OMRI YANIV FLICKER- Law student
RABBI ARIE FOLGER- Chief Rabbi, Basel, Switzerland
RABBI SETH J. GELMAN-Member of Boca Raton Kollel
RABBI MAURICE JAY GREBENAU- Member of YU Dallas Kollel and teacher at Yavneh academy
RABBI AVERY JOSHUA JOEL- Teacher, Ramaz
RABBI JONATHAN DAVID KESSEL-Faculty member, MTA
RABBI AARON M. LEIBOWITZ- YU/CJF staff member
RABBI ARYEH NATAN LIGHTSTONE-Outgoing assistant rabbi, AABJ&D, West Orange
RABBI SHALOM A. MORRIS-Senior Rabbinic Intern, RJC
RABBI AVI GERSHON OPPENHEIMER-Medical student
RABBI YOSEF POLINSKY- Dental student
RABBI CHAIM L. POUPKO- Assistant Rabbi, Ahavath Torah, Engelwood
RABBI ARIEL ZEEV RACKOVSKY- Rabbinic Intern, RJC
RABBI DAVID JASON SILVERSTEIN- Assistant Rabbi, RJC
RABBI JOSEPH AARON WEINSTOCK- Assistant Rabbi, Hollywood, FL
RABBI ASHER ZEV YABLOK- Teacher, HAFTR
and plenty more studying in Kollels or teaching
Yadin Yadin
RABBI MORDECHAI HOCHHEIMER- Rabbi, Rochester, NY
March 29th, 2006 at 3:14 pm
sfunny, i was walking in the city earlier today and i was writing an chag hasemicha redux in my mind and specifically was going through the many friends who received semicha and what they are all actually doing now - one by one their names and jobs - then i see this . there is a huge number from this time around and from ‘02 of musmakhim over how many actually become pulpit rabbis and educators.
April 2nd, 2006 at 4:46 pm
The rabbinate is a punishing field, underpaid, a cesspool for abuse.
That’s not to say that life in corporate America is any better or different. Everything depends upon the quality of one’s bosses and surroundings, but if potential pulpit rabbis gravitate towards Jewish education, the salaries are an indication why.
Ask Y.U.’s Director of Rabbinic Placement, a good case in point.
April 5th, 2006 at 7:33 pm
I happen to know three more rabbis on that list who are currently in chinuch. however i won’t post their names publicly
April 10th, 2006 at 11:20 pm
I fail to see the point of this whole blog. So YU hypes up their chag hasemikhah to say their graduates are in the rabbinate and “klei kodesh.” Does everyone in the world really need to know what each of these guys is doing? Many are teaching, many are in the rabbinate, or have jobs lined up for next year - which have not been mentioned by the people quoted up until now because all of you are speculating. You don’t know.
And it’s not true that most of the rabbis in question are on a stipend. The only stipends allotted are to those in the respective kollels of RIETS. It is true that RIETS students do not pay tuition, but to say they are all riding a freebie for the three/four years they are in semikhah is more than slightly presumptuous. Some get semikhah because it’s a “degree” of culmination following post-college learning. Others get “semikhah” for the title that will help them advance careers in teaching or the rabbinate. If you really must know everything, go to the YU beis medrash and interview those you meet and ask them what they’re doing and what they’re aspirations are. Speculating is for mindless individuals who have nothing better to do than rant negatively about 180 people who have accomplished something you have not.
Best
May 1st, 2006 at 2:41 pm
You children defintely have too much time on your hands.
George Lewis told the Englishman, the Italian and the Jew
“You can’t open your mind, boys
To every conceivable point of view.”
They got Charles Darwin trapped out there on Highway Five
Judge says to the High Sheriff,
“I want him dead or alive
Either one, I don’t care.”
High Water everywhere
July 14th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
KCS
January 15th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Interesting observation.
I’m sure you already heard this but Jonathan Gross is the rabbi in Omaha, NE.