![Rabbi Rosensweig](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Rabbi_Rosensweig.jpg)
Michael Rosensweig (born December 22, 1956) is a
Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...
at the
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS ) is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University (YU). It is located along Amsterdam Avenue in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.
Named after Yitzchak Elchanan ...
of
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.["About YU]
on the Yeshiva Universit ...
and the
Rosh Kollel
A kollel ( he, כולל, , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim (lectures) and learning ''sedarim'' (sessions); ...
of the Beren Kollel Elyon.
Education
Michael Rosensweig studied with
Joseph B. Soloveitchik
Joseph Ber Soloveitchik ( he, יוסף דב הלוי סולובייצ׳יק ''Yosef Dov ha-Levi Soloveychik''; February 27, 1903 – April 9, 1993) was a major American Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and modern Jewish philosopher. He was a scion ...
at
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.["About YU]
on the Yeshiva Universit ...
, and with
Aharon Lichtenstein
Aharon Lichtenstein (May 23, 1933 – April 20, 2015) was a noted Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva. He was an authority in Jewish law (''Halakha'').
Biography
Aharon Lichtenstein was born to Rabbi Dr. Yechiel Lichtenstein and Bluma née Schwartz ...
at
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion (YHE; ), commonly known in English as "Gush" and in Hebrew as "Yeshivat HaGush", is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, an Israeli settlement in Gush Etzion. It is considered one of the leading institutions of advanced Tor ...
. He received his ''Semicha'' from the
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS ) is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University (YU). It is located along Amsterdam Avenue in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.
Named after Yitzchak Elchanan ...
, and was a distinguished fellow at RIETS's post-semicha Gruss Kollel Elyon. He also studied with Yerucham Bobrofksy, a disciple of
Baruch Ber Leibowitz
Boruch Ber Leibowitz ( yi, ברוך בער לייבאוויץ he, רב ברוך דוב ליבוביץ, Boruch Dov Libovitz; 1862 – November 17, 1939, known as Reb Boruch Ber, was a rabbi famed for his Talmudic lectures, particularly in that ...
, at Yeshiva High School of Queens.
Rosensweig graduated summa cum laude from
Yeshiva College in 1977, and received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Medieval Jewish History from the
Bernard Revel Graduate School The Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies was Yeshiva University’s first graduate school. Founded in 1937, it was named for Yeshiva University's first president, Bernard Revel. Its curriculum prepares highly trained teachers, researchers ...
of Jewish Studies, where he was mentored by
Haym Soloveitchik
Haym Soloveitchik (born September 19, 1937) is an American Modern Orthodox rabbi and historian. He is the only son of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. He graduated from the Maimonides School which his father founded in Brookline, Massachusetts and ...
, for whom he wrote both his M.A. thesis and doctoral dissertation ("Debt Collection in Absentia: Halakhah in a Mobile and Commercial Age"). Rosensweig is one of the only doctoral students mentored by Soloveitchik.
[YU Torah Online Bio](_blank)
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Talmudic Methodology
Inspired by his teachers Rabbi Soloveitchik and Rabbi Lichtenstein, Rabbi Rosensweig employs a unique expanded form of the conceptual Brisker methodology in explaining Talmudic topics, with intense focus on the opinions of Rambam
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah s ...
. To develop a broader and more nuanced perspective on issues and the topic as a whole, Rabbi Rosensweig meticulously presents the varying approaches of the Rishonim and Acharonim on the sugya, highlighting their underlying conceptual assumptions as well as pointing to consistencies in their views in other areas. He also seeks to accentuate the broader Torah values expressed by Halachic institutions.
Appointment as Rosh Yeshiva and Rosh Kollel
In 1985, Rosensweig was appointed Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS, where he currently holds the ''Nathan and Perel Schupf Chair of Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
''. In 1997, he was appointed Rosh Kollel of the prestigious Beren Institute for Advanced Talmudic Studies (Beren Kollel Elyon) at RIETS.[YU Torah Online Bio]
In 2013, Rosensweig was invited to become the Rosh HaYeshiva at Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh
Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh ( he, ישיבת כרם ביבנה, lit. ''Vineyard in Yavne Yeshiva'') is a youth village and major yeshiva in southern Israel. Located near the city of Ashdod and adjacent to Kvutzat Yavne, it falls under the jurisdict ...
in Israel.
External links
articles, audio, and video on TorahWeb.org
* Avraham Wein
From the Micro to the Meta: Rabbi Michael Rosensweig's Unique Contribution to Torat Brisk
Yeshiva University 2018.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosensweig, Michael
1956 births
Living people
Modern Orthodox rabbis
American Orthodox rabbis
Yeshiva University rosh yeshivas
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary semikhah recipients
Yeshivat Har Etzion