Aharon Feldman

Rabbi Aharon Feldman (born 1932)[1] is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel (Ner Israel Rabbinical College) in Baltimore, Maryland. He has held this position since 2001. He is also a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages).[2][3]

Rabbi

Aharon Feldman
Rabbi Aharon Feldman in 2010
TitleRosh Yeshiva, Yeshivas Ner Yisroel
Personal
Born
Aharon Feldman

1932
ReligionJudaism
SpouseLea
ParentsRabbi Joseph H. Feldman
OccupationRosh yeshiva
Jewish leader
PredecessorRabbi Yaakov Moshe Kulefsky
PositionRosh yeshiva
YeshivaYeshivas Ner Yisroel
Began2001

Biography

Rabbi Aharon Feldman is the son of Rabbi Joseph Feldman (died 1993), a native of Warsaw and scion of a rabbinical family.[4] Rabbi Josef H. Feldman served as a rabbi in Manchester, New Hampshire in the 1930s, but left that post to assume the helm of Baltimore's Franklin Street Synagogue so his sons could attend a Hebrew day school.[5] He was the last rabbi to formally serve as chief rabbi of Baltimore. Rabbi Aharon Feldman has two brothers; his elder brother,[6] Rabbi Emanuel Feldman, was the prominent spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Jacob of Atlanta, Georgia for 40 years.[4] His younger brother, Rabbi Joel Feldman, was a former dean of Talmudical Academy of Baltimore.

Rabbi Feldman was born and raised in Baltimore, where he attended the Talmudical Academy and Ner Yisroel, becoming a close disciple of Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Yitzchak Ruderman.[1] Afterwards he taught in several yeshivas in New York.[1] He has dual citizenship to both Israel and America, and is in line for a position as MK in the Israeli parliament in the Degal HaTorah party.

In 1961 Rabbi Feldman and his wife Leah made aliyah with their family to Israel in order to raise their eight children in a more religious environment.[1] They lived in Bnei Brak for 12 years and relocated to Jerusalem in 1973.[1] Rabbi Feldman served as one of the Rosh Yeshivas of Ohr Somayach Yeshiva for many years, and also founded Yeshiva Be'er HaTorah in Jerusalem in the early 1990s.[1]

In 2001 Rabbi Feldman accepted the request of Ner Yisroel to serve as its Rosh Yeshiva.

In 2005, he was one of 15 Jewish educators invited to an informal discussion on Jewish education in the White House's Roosevelt Room.[7]

Rabbi Feldman serves on the Moetzes Gedolai Hatorah of America.[11]

Public positions

In 1994, Rabbi Feldman spoke publicly against the actions of Baruch Goldstein saying that there could be "no justification", and describing the actions as "way beyond the pale".[8]

In 2003, in response to a question from Gil Student, Feldman issued a ruling regarding Chabad messianists. He drew a distinction between what he terms the "meshichists" (those who believe the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson is the messiah) and the "elokists" (those who believe he was a part of God or God "clothed in a body"). He ruled that it is forbidden to associate with elokists under any circumstances due to their heresy and that they cannot be counted for a minyan. Regarding the meshichists, he determined that while their beliefs do not make them heretics, it is forbidden to conduct any action which would be seen as lending credence to their messianic beliefs.[9]

Feldman has penned a lengthy critical review of the Steinsaltz Talmud. Among many criticisms, he writes, "Specifically, the work is marred by an extraordinary number of inaccuracies stemming primarily from misreadings of the sources; it fails to explain those difficult passages which the reader would expect it to explain; and it confuses him with notes which are often irrelevant, incomprehensible, and contradictory." Feldman says he fears that, "An intelligent student utilizing the Steinsaltz Talmud as his personal instructor might in fact conclude that Talmud in general is not supposed to make sense." Furthermore, writes Feldman, the Steinsaltz Talmud gives off the impression that the Talmud is intellectually flabby, inconsistent, and often trivial.[10]

In 2005, he wrote a critique of Rabbi Natan Slifkin, explaining and defending the 2004 ban issued against Slifkin's books.[11]

Feldman has been an opponent of Open Orthodoxy. He argues that "The basis of Orthodox Judaism is a belief in the Divine origin of both the Oral and Written Torah. Yeshivat Chovevei Torah’s leaders or their graduates have said clearly or implicitly on many occasions that they do not accept that the Torah was authored by Hashem, that parts of the Torah can be excised, and that the Oral Law was developed by Rabbis to adjust the Written Torah to the realities of the time that they lived in. This basic philosophy is what writes them out of Orthodox Jewry."[12]

Selected bibliography
  • The River, the Kettle and the Bird: A Torah guide to successful marriage. Feldheim Publishers. 1987. ISBN 0873064402.
  • The Juggler and the King: The Jew and the Conquest of Evil: An elaboration of the Vilna Gaon's insights into the hidden wisdom of the Sages. Feldheim Publishers. 1990. ISBN 0873065573.
  • The Eye of the Storm: A calm view of raging issues. Yad Yosef Publications. 2009. ISBN 1598264540.
  • Mishnah Berurah: The Classic Commentary to Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim, Comprising the Laws of Daily Jewish Conduct (editor, Hebrew-English edition, 12 volumes)
  • Yad L'Peah on Maseches Peah (1967) (Book Review in HaPardes; digital edition of Yad L'Peah at the Ner Israel Archive).

References
  1. Matthews, Mark (31 July 2001). "Rabbi returns to U.S. roots". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  2. "Six Gedolim Added To Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah Of Agudas Yisroel". TheYeshivaWorld.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  3. By: The “Hamodia Staff” (September 14, 2020). "Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah Call on Community to Achieve Improvements; New Chavrei HaMoetzes Welcomed". Hamodia. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  4. "Rabbi Emanuel Feldman Papers" (PDF). The William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum. October 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  5. Oberstein, Rabbi Elchonon (October 2009). "A Conversation with Rabbi Emanuel Feldman". Where What When. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2010. Archived at the Wayback Machine.
  6. Gros, Michael (27 January 2010). "A Shul and a Mission". Mishpacha Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  7. Brown, Ellen Schur. "Bush hosts discussion on Jewish education", Cleveland Jewish News, December 16, 2005
  8. Lipman, Steve. "Way Beyond The Pale: Rabbis say Baruch Goldstein's murder rampage". Jewish Week, March 10, 1994.
  9. http://moshiachtalk.tripod.com/feldman.pdf See also Rabbi Feldman's letter to David Berger:http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/feldman_berger_sm_2.jpg
  10. Feldman, Ahron. "Learning Gemara" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-25. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  11. Feldman, Aharon (June 27, 2005). "The Slifkin Affair – Issues and Perspectives". Retrieved 5 July 2010.
  12. "Rav Aharon Feldman on Open Orthodoxy". Cross-Currents. 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
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