Rabbi Moshe Gottesman was born in Canada and has worked in Israel, Chicago and Long Island, New York. He held the position of dean for the

Hebrew Academy of Nassau County The Hebrew Academy of Nasssau County (HANC) is a K-12, comprehensive, Modern Orthodox Jewish school system, located in Nassau County, New York. History In 1953, Nassau County was virtually empty of Jewish education. Through the dedicated effor ...

for almost 20 years. Gottesman was also the director of tours for Camp Sdei Chemed International for over 35 years. Gottesman has received many awards, including, the Honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Yeshiva University.

Education

Gottesman received his formal education and semicha in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, where he studied secular studies at the Chicago Jewish Academy (which is now known as

Ida Crown Jewish Academy Ida Crown Jewish Academy is a Modern Orthodox Jewish high school in Skokie, Illinois, under the auspicies of the Associated Talmud Torahs. Its current dean is Leonard Matanky. ICJA places emphasis on both Judaic and Secular studies and holds it ...

) and Judaic studies at the Hebrew Theological College (HTC). While studying at the HTC, his main rabbinic influences included Rabbis

Yisrael Mendel Kaplan Israel or Yisrael Mendel Kaplan (April 14, 1913 – April 4, 1985), known as "Reb Mendel" was an American Orthodox Jewish rabbi and author. He was best known as a teacher in the Hebrew Theological College of Chicago and the Talmudical Yeshiva o ...

and Chaim Kreiswirth. .

Hebrew Academy of Nassau County

Dean

Gottesman's tenure at the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County (HANC) began in 1960. After a year of teaching in Chicago, he began work as rabbi for the original campus in

West Hempstead West Hempstead is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 19,835 at the 2020 census. It is an unincorporated area in the Town of Hempst ...

. Gottesman went on to become a teacher, principal of the Junior and Senior High School and Dean in 1985.

Post-retirement

Although officially retired, he still devoted much of his time to HANC. In December 2010, HANC dedicated its new Beit Midrash in his honor. The goal of the Rabbi Moshe Gottesman Beit Midrash is to be a center of learning for students and alumni from HANC as well people who either work or study in nearby communities and schools like

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

and

Nassau Community College Nassau Community College (NCC) is a public community college in Uniondale, New York, using the Garden City, New York ZIP Code. It was founded in 1959 and is part of the State University of New York. History Nassau Community College was cre ...

Every year, Gottesman led HANC in their march at the annual Salute to Israel Day Parade in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Gottesman Learning Center

While dean at HANC, Gottesman established the Gottesman Learning Center for children with special needs. The program currently accommodates children with everything from basic learning disabilities to

Down syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...

and various types of

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

. The program meets each Sunday morning and provides a Jewish education with davening, the aleph-bet, laws and customs, song, dance, art, parashah and crafts to children who, because of their special requirements, would have no other opportunity to be in a Jewish school environment.

Young Israel of Oceanside Mikva

For over 25 years the community of

Oceanside, New York Oceanside is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the southern part of the town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 32,109 at the 2010 census. History Originally known as South Bay, the Eng ...

, did not have a

mikvah Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purifi ...

. In 1984, Gottesman was determined. Neighbors took the religious community to a court zoning board over the building permit. Gottesman and twenty five 12th grade HANC students attended the hearing. Gottesman used his students as a visual aid to show the judge how many people would use the mikva if granted a permit. The judge granted permission and dismissed the case.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gottesman, Moshe 2018 deaths American Modern Orthodox rabbis Religious Zionist Orthodox rabbis Rabbis from Chicago People from Welland People from West Hempstead, New York People from Oceanside, New York 1932 births 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American rabbis