Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin (1945 – 23 December 2020), author of the

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

''Benei Vanim'', was a

modern orthodox Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosoph ...

posek In Jewish law, a ''Posek'' ( he, פוסק , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the position of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities a ...

Early life and education

Yehuda Henkin was born in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in 1945 and raised in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. His father was Dr. Avraham Hillel Henkin, who headed the local Board of Jewish Education. After graduating from the Yeshivah of Flatbush High School in 1962, he studied five years with his grandfather, Rabbi

Yosef Eliyahu Henkin Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin (1881–1973) was a prominent Orthodox rabbi in the United States. Biography He was born in 1881 in Klimavichy, Belarus, then in the Russian Empire, and studied at the Slutzker Yeshiva under Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltze ...

, from whom he received semichah. He also received semichah from Rabbi Yehuda Gershuni. During this time he also completed a master's degree in the

sociology of religion Sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation may include the use both of quantitative methods (surveys, ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. His uncle was Professor

Louis Henkin Louis Henkin (November 11, 1917 – October 14, 2010), widely considered one of the most influential contemporary scholars of international law and the foreign policy of the United States, who was "often credited with creating the field of human ...

, who taught

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

at Columbia. He and his wife Chana Henkin moved to Israel in 1972 and he served as the Rabbi of the

Beit She'an valley The Beit She'an Valley ( he, בקעת בית שאן or he, עמק בית שאן) is a valley in Israel. The valley lies within the Beit She'an rift, part of the Afro-Syrian Rift (Jordan Rift Valley), which opens westwards to the Harod Valley. I ...

before moving to Jerusalem.

Personal life

He lived in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, with his wife, , founder and head of

Nishmat Nishmat ( he, נִשְׁמַת or 'the soul of every living thing') is a Jewish prayer that is recited during Pesukei D'Zimrah between the Song of the Sea and Yishtabach on Shabbat and Yom Tov. It is also recited during the Passover seder. Sho ...

, the Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies for Women. His son, Rabbi

Eitam Henkin The killing of Eitam and Na'ama Henkin occurred on October 1, 2015, in the West Bank. A married Israeli couple from Neria, Mateh Binyamin, Neria, Eitam Simon Henkin, a doctoral student at Tel Aviv University who also held American citizenship, and ...

, and his daughter-in-law Naama were murdered by Palestinian terrorists on 1 October 2015, in front of their four young children. His closest student was Rabbi David Sperling, head of the Bet Midrash at Nishmat, who studied with him for over thirty years.

Scholarly books

Between 1981 and 2004 he published four volumes elucidating

Jewish Law ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws which is derived from the Torah, written and Oral Tora ...

in a book called ''Benei Banim'' (Hebrew). In the summer of 2019 he published a book of biblical exegesis called ''Mahalakhim Ba-Mikra''.

Responsa

Henkin discusses whether those who believe that the Lubavitcher Rebbe is the messiah are considered to be heretics, ruling that they are not. He cites his grandfather R. Yosef Eliyahu Henkin that hearing

Shofar A shofar ( ; from he, שׁוֹפָר, ) is an ancient musical horn typically made of a ram's horn, used for Jewish religious purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, with all pitch control done by varying the ...

and Megillah cannot be done by radio, and that therefore

Kol Isha ''Tzniut'' ( he, צניעות , , ; "modesty" or "privacy"; ) describes both the character trait of modesty and discretion, as well as a group of Jewish laws pertaining to conduct. The concept is most important within Orthodox Judaism. Des ...

does not apply over the radio.Bnei Banim 2:211 and 3:127 Henkin was unsure whether this applies to hearing a woman's voice on television. He allows women studying

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 ...

. He permits dancing on the Sabbath, but prohibits clapping hands. He permits a man to shake a woman's hand when offered, and vice versa.

Deferring to the Arukh HaShulkan

He cites his grandfather R. Yosef Eliyahu Henkin as considering the

Aruch HaShulchan ''Arukh HaShulchan'' (Hebrew: עָרוּךְ הַשֻּׁלְחָן r, arguably, עָרֹךְ הַשֻּׁלְחָן; see ''Title'' below is a work of halacha written by Yechiel Michel Epstein (1829–1908). The work attempts to be a clear, orga ...

as more definitive than the

Mishnah Berurah The ''Mishnah Berurah'' ( he, משנה ברורה "Clear Teaching") is a work of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (Poland, 1838–1933, also known as ''Chofetz Chaim''). It is a commentary on ''Orach Chayim'', the first section ...

. * It is a more recent authority relative to the Mishnah Berurah. Although Aruch HaShulchan on Choshen Mishpat preceded the Mishnah Berurah, the part on Orach Chayim was published up to 10 years after Mishnah Berurah. * He covers all of the

Shulkhan Arukh The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in Is ...

* More importantly, the Arukh HaShulchan reflects the minhagim of the time, while the Mishna Berurah is much more precedent/text-based.

Partnership Minyan

He has written the major objection to the concept of a

partnership minyan Partnership minyan (pl. partnership minyanim) is a religious Jewish prayer group that seeks to maximize women's participation in services within the confines of Jewish law as understood by Orthodox Judaism. This includes enabling women to lead par ...

, particularly the issue of calling women to the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

. In an article in the EDAH journal article on the subject, he provided point-by-point

halakhic ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

counterarguments, and also said: :Regardless of the arguments that can be proffered to permit women’s aliyot orah-readingtoday— that kevod ha-tsibbur can be waived, that it does not apply today when everyone is literate, that it does not apply when the olim rely on the (male) ba`al qeri’ah and do not themselves read—women’s aliyot remain outside the consensus, and a congregation that institutes them is not Orthodox in name and will not long remain Orthodox in practice. In my judgment, this is an accurate statement now and for the foreseeable future, and I see no point in arguing about it.Yehuda Herzl Henkin
“Qeri’at ha-Torah by Women: Where We Stand Today.” Edah 1:2, 2001
(pdf)

References

Bibliography

*Responsa ''Benei Vanim'', 4 volumes *A Biblical commentary, ''Hibah Yeteirah'' (Brooklyn: Lambda Publishers) *''Equality Lost: Essays in Torah Commentary, Halacha and Jewish Thought'' (Urim Publications, 1999) *''New Interpretations on the Parsha'' (Ktav, 2001) * *''Responsa on Contemporary Jewish Women’s Issues'' (Ktav, 2003) *''Understanding Tzniut: Modern Controversies in the Jewish Community'' (Urim Publications, 2008) * * Pirkei Ideologia Pirkei Hadracha (New York, Mizrahi HaTzair, 1965) * Perakim B'HavanatMe'orot Zmanenu (Jerusalem 1994) * Mahalachim Bamikra: Sugyot B'Torah M'Briat HaOlam v'adMatan Torah (Jerusalem 2020, edited by R. Eitam Shimon Henkin)