Yuval Cherlow (born 1957) is 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 ...

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

and

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 ...

. He is

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 ...

of Yeshivat Hesder Amit Orot Shaul in Tel Aviv,

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Cherlow was one of the founders of

Tzohar Tzohar ( he, צֹחַר) is a community settlement and regional center in southern Israel. Located in Hevel Eshkol, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The settlement was founded in 19 ...

, an organization of

religious Zionist Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religious"), and in Israel, the ...

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

rabbis in Israel.

Biography

Yuval Cherlow was born in

Herzliya Herzliya ( ; he, הֶרְצְלִיָּה ; ar, هرتسليا, Hirtsiliyā) is an affluent city in the central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it h ...

, Israel. His parents were American-Jewish immigrants who moved to Israel in 1949. He was educated in

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 Tora ...

. As part of his

Hesder Hesder ( he, הסדר "arrangement"; also Yeshivat Hesder ) is an Israeli yeshiva program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the Israel Defense Forces, usually within a Religious Zionist framework. The program allo ...

studies, he served as an

armor Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...

officer in the

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

. In the reserves he was a company commander in the armoured corps. He lives in

Efrat Efrat ( he, אֶפְרָת), or previously officially Efrata ( he, אֶפְרָתָה), is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, established in 1983 in the Judean Mountains. Efrat is located south of Jerusalem, between Bethlehem and Hebron, ...

with his wife, who is a lecturer in the department of

Jewish philosophy Jewish philosophy () includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or in relation to the religion of Judaism. Until modern ''Haskalah'' (Jewish Enlightenment) and Jewish emancipation, Jewish philosophy was preoccupied with attempts to reconcile ...

Bar Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

Rabbinic career

Cherlow's rabbinic career began in

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

Tirat Tzvi, where he served as a rabbi and teacher. Later he served as a rabbi in

Yeshivat HaGolan A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are st ...

Hispin Haspin ( he, חַסְפִּין), widely known as Hispin, is a religious Israeli settlement organized as a community settlement located in the southern Golan Heights. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the Golan Heig ...

, in the southern

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

. After the Rabin assassination, he helped found

, whose aim was to lessen the tensions between religious and non-religious communities. In 1998 he founded a Yeshivat Hesder in Petach Tikva, later to become Yeshivat Hesder Amit Orot Shaul in Kfar Batya, Raanana. He justified his decision to start a new yeshiva in the central area of Israel by saying that it is the place where the most important debates about the identity of the country take place. Since 2001 Cherlow has answered more than 30,000 questions about

Halakha ''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 ...

and other issues related to

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

via the Moreshet website. He published two books based on his internet responsa. He has also published books that deal with Bible commentary as well as the writings of Rabbi

Avraham Yitzhak Kook Abraham Isaac Kook (; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as Rav Kook, and also known by the acronym HaRaAYaH (), was an Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. He is considered to be one of ...

. Cherlow is a member of the ethics committee of the

Israeli Ministry of Health The Ministry of Health ( he, מִשְׂרַד הַבְּרִיאוּת, translit. ''Misrad HaBri'ut'') is a ministry in the Israeli government, responsible for formulating health policies. The ministry plans, supervises, licenses, and coordinat ...

and the committee which allocates the budget for new drugs. He is active in the BeMaagalei Tzedek ("Circles of Justice") movement. In 2011, he took part in the Israeli social justice protests.

Views and opinions

Cherlow has voiced empathy for the difficulties faced by religious

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

people, and has called for the Orthodox community to treat them with compassion. However, he still maintains that homosexual relationships are prohibited by

. Cherlow has voiced liberal positions on some issues, such as allowing the use of

artificial insemination Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatme ...

by unmarried women in certain circumstances and supporting coed activities in

Bnei Akiva Bnei Akiva ( he, בְּנֵי עֲקִיבָא, , "Children of Akiva") is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 42 countries. It was first established in Mandatory Palestine in 1929. History B ...

. His view on Jewish marriage in Israel is that all Jews should be married according to Halakha, but if the Chief Rabbinate refuses to marry a couple, there should be an alternate method of being recognized as a couple according to secular law. He is opposed to civil disobedience, an issue that rose to the fore during Israel's unilateral disengagement from Gaza and evacuation of Israeli settlements in the region. In 2012, Cherlow called on the State of Israel to recognise non-Orthodox streams of Judaism and Reform conversions. In response, Tzohar distanced itself from his remarks.Prominent Orthodox rabbi calls on Israel to recognize Reform Judaism
''Haaretz'', (December 11, 2012) Yizhar Hess of the Masorti Movement in Israel has suggested that Cherlow does not represent the mainstream of Zionist Orthodoxy in Israel, and Rabbi Yehoshua Shapira described Cherlow as a "neo-Reform rabbi in the Orthodox sector." Cherlow is also interested in

interfaith dialogue Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

, and currently sits on the Board of World Religious Leaders for the

Elijah Interfaith Institute Elijah Interfaith Institute is a nonprofit, international, UNESCO-sponsored interfaith organization which was founded by Rabbi Alon Goshen-Gottstein in 1997. Headquartered in Jerusalem, Elijah has offices and representatives in different c ...

. Rabbi Cherlow deals mainly with ethical issues. He writes articles and tweets about ethics in Israel. In 2015, he established the ethics department at Tzohar. His book "BeTzalmo" (In His Image), published in 2015 by Maggid Press, deals with the religious meanings of God's image in people. In March of 2018 he garnered attention for stating that genetically cloned pig or any other animal would be

Kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

References

External links

Tzohar

Rabbi Cherlow's amazing journey outside the Israeli Orthodox ghetto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherlo, Yuval Religious Zionist rosh yeshivas Israeli Orthodox rabbis 20th-century Israeli rabbis 21st-century Israeli rabbis Living people Israeli settlers 1957 births Israeli people of American-Jewish descent People from Herzliya Yeshivat Har Etzion