RIETS

15 RIETS roshei yeshiva signed a joint statement outlining COVID-19 guidelines for the upcoming holidays. Yonatan Kurz reports

Yesterday, our Caroline and Joseph S. Gruss Institute in Jerusalem had a "Zoomchat Beit Hashoeva" featuring Kahoot with trivia about the Gruss Kollel, the faculty and rebbeim, divrei Torah from rebbeim and students, and singing of niggunim and shirei ha-chag.

This incredible story is beautiful and heartwarming on so many levels... https://mishpacha.com/a-promise-kept/

Third year RIETS Student Dani Ritholtz just published a beautiful and moving book in memory of his beloved father, Bruce Ritholtz. https://www.tabletmag.com//articles/men-of-letters-ritholtz Tablet Magazine

We noticed at least 6 RIETS musmachim at the Abraham Accords ceremony at The White House this week. Let us know if we missed another RIETS rav. Rabbanim: Moshe Goldfeder, Yehuda Sarna, Steven Burg, Abraham Cooper, Marc Schneier and Aryeh Lightstone

Semikha at RIETS has surpassed all of my expectations. Being a Rabbi entails so many different aspects - paskening Shailos, giving Drashos, supporting congregants, and so much more. RIETS has given us training in all these different areas, and the confidence and support to BeEzrat HaShem be successful." Aron White grew up in London, UK, and then attended Yeshivat Hakotel in Yerushalayim. He has a degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of London. Aron is completing his Semikha at RIETS, as well as our joint-program program in Mental Health Counseling with the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology and a Masters in Medieval Jewish History at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. He has served as Rabbinic Intern for JLIC at NYU and Great Neck Synagogue. #MeetOurTalmidim

"I am grateful to RIETS for providing me with mentorship, support, and career opportunities as I studied to be a pulpit rabbi. I learned vital hands-on skills at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun as part of RIETS' internship program, had constant support and advice from amazing mentors like Rabbi JJ Schachter and Rabbi Schwartzberg, and was guided every step along the way this year as I applied to the Stanton Street Shul, where I am proudly starting my new job as Rabbi. None of... it would have been possible without RIETS' support, and I am sure I will utilize their resources in the future as I grow into my rabbinic career." Leead Staller is the Rabbi at Stanton Street Shul, the place to be in downtown NYC. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania magna cum laude with a degree in Philosophy and History, Leead started learning at RIETS, mainly under Rabbi Michael Rosensweig, Rabbi Itamar Rosensweig, and Rabbi Baruch Simon. Leead held a number of rabbinic internships and positions before settling down at Stanton Street Shul for his first full time job. Leead is a graduate fellow at The Wexner Foundation, a Hillel International Yavneh-Bet Rabbinic Entrepreneur, and a UJA-Federation of New York graduate fellow. He and his wife Shoshana have been married for a little over one year, and are excited to start their adventure in downtown NYC together. #MeetOurMusmakhim

The Art & Letters of Repentance: A Video Series on the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur Machzor Kol Nidrei in Culture, History, and Behavioral Economics Rabbi Dani...el Z. Feldman (RIETS - Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, Rosh Yeshiva) The haunting intonation of Kol Nidrei sets the tone for Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. The prayer is well known to Jews worldwide and is even familiar through popular culture. However, there is nothing in this recitation that points to the themes of the Day of Atonement. It seems to undermine the effort of absolution, and has contributed to antisemitism throughout the generations. In fact, it was not always endorsed by the rabbinic leadership. How has this passage become so central to the Yom Kippur experience, despite every argument to the contrary? Can culture, history, and modern wisdom give us any insights into this mystery of Jewish custom? Learn more at yu.edu/straus.

Rosh Yeshiva and Rosh Kollel Rav Hershel Schachter learning in the Jacob and Dreizel Glueck Center for Jewish Study with one of our Makor students, photographed by our Semikha Program Director R. Aryeh Lebowitz.

Join one of our incredible Roshei Yeshiva, R. Daniel Feldman, The Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought of Yeshiva University, and Koren Publishers Jerusalem for this exciting series!

Today is a very important anniversary in the history of Torah in America. On September 1st 1922, Rav Shelomo Polaczhek gave his first shiur in Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan. Today marks 98 years of advanced lamdanut taught in America. https://www.yu.edu//mission-histo/historic-roshei/polachek

Not yet able to be back on campus? Not a problem! This Rabbinic Training Class brought together students from as close to Yeshiva as New York and New Jersey and as far away as Panama!