Aaron Moshe Schechter (also Aharon Moshe Schechter) is an American Haredi rabbi. He is the

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 ...

(dean) of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin and its post-graduate Talmudical division,

Kollel Gur Aryeh Kollel Gur Aryeh ( he, כולל גור אריה) is a kollel for young married Orthodox men located in Brooklyn, New York. It was established in 1956 by Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner as the post-graduate division of the Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin. A numbe ...

. He also serves on the presidium of

Agudath Israel of America Agudath Israel of America ( he, אגודת ישראל באמריקה) (also called Agudah) is an American organization that represents Haredi Orthodox Jews. It is loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel. Agudah seeks to ...

and is a member of that organization's Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages).

Early life

Aaron Moshe Schechter was born in Brooklyn in the 1920s. He became a disciple of Yitzchak Hutner after being enrolled in the Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin as a young child. He also studied in

Lakewood Yeshiva Beth Medrash Govoha ( he, בית מדרש גבוה, Sephardi pronunciation: ''Beth Midrash Gavoha''. lit: "High House of Learning"; also known as Lakewood Yeshiva or BMG) is a Haredi Jewish Lithuanian ''yeshiva'' in Lakewood Township, New Jersey ...

Disciple of Rav Yitzchak Hutner

Yeshiva Mesivta Chaim Berlin Kollel Gur Aryeh, Sept 2020

Hutner chose Schechter for leadership positions in the yeshiva even prior to Schechter's marriage. Hutner encouraged him to write a rabbinic commentary on Maimonides, which he called ''Avodas Aharon''.

Rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin

Hutner said that Schechter and

Rabbi Yonasan David 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 o ...

would serve as co-equal roshei yeshiva of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin.

Agudath Israel and Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah

After the death of Hutner in 1980, Schechter joined the ''nesius'' (presidium) of

. Schechter has worked closely with two other early disciples of Hutner on the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, Aharon Feldman of Yeshiva Ner Yisrael, and

Yaakov Perlow Yaakov Perlow ( yi, יעקבֿ פּערלאָוו he, יעקב פרלוב‎; November 16, 1930 – April 7, 2020) was an American Hasidic rabbi and rosh yeshiva, and Rebbe of the Novominsk Hasidic dynasty. From 1998 until his death in 2020, ...

, the Rebbe of

Novominsk Novominsk is a Hasidic dynasty, originating in Mińsk Mazowiecki, Poland, and now based in the United States. It also runs a yeshiva known as Yeshivas Novominsk - Kol Yehuda, currently led by Rabbi Yosef Mermelstein. From 1976 until his death in ...

, who was appointed ''Rosh Agudas Yisroel'' (head of Agudath Israel of America). On January 13, 2015, Schechter resigned from the Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah over a dispute regarding internal dissent in the World Agudath Israel-affiliated Degel Hatorah. After the dispute was settled, he returned.

Personal life

Schechter married Shoshana Roisa Leichtung in 1954. She served as the Principal of General Studies at Yeshiva of Brooklyn's girls' elementary school for over 20 years. She died on August 4, 2016. They had two sons. One, Mordechai Zelig Schecter, serves as the '' mashgiach ruchani'' (spiritual supervisor) at Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin. The other, Nosson Schecter, is a mohel. Their son-in-law is Rabbi Shlomo Halioua, current rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin. Their eldest daughter is Esther Yormark, teacher at Beis Yaakov Academy in Brooklyn.

Works

Avodas Aharon

External links

Rabbi Schechter speaks to students on OU radio, December 28, 2006

* ttp://www.oorah.org/endorsements.htm Endorses the outreach ''kiruv'' work of the oorah.org organization
Member of rabbinical committee, ''Vaad L'Hatzolas Nidchei Yisroel

Video of Rabbi Schechter speaking about reconciling Science and Torah

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schechter, Aaron 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American rabbis Living people American Haredi rabbis Rosh yeshivas Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah Year of birth missing (living people) Orthodox rabbis from New York City