Aharon Lichtenstein

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Image:Der Rebbe Lichtenstein.jpg Aharon Lichtenstein (born 1933) is a noted Orthodox Jewish rabbi.

Rabbi Lichtenstein was born in France, but grew up in the United States, studied in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin under Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner. He earned a BA and semicha ("rabbinic ordination") at Yeshiva University and a PhD in English Literature at Harvard University, where he studied under Douglas Bush.

After serving as Rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University for several years, Rabbi Lichtenstein answered Rabbi Yehuda Amital's request in 1971 to join him at the helm of Yeshivat Har Etzion, located in Gush Etzion, Israel, and moved to Jerusalem.

He is committed to intensive and original Torah study and articulates a bold Jewish worldview that embraces modernity, reflecting the tradition of his teacher and father-in-law, Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik in line with Modern Orthodox Judaism.

He is a source of inspiration for a wide circle of Jewry, for both his educational attainments and his intellectual leadership. He is the author of Leaves of Faith (vol. 1) - The World of Jewish Learning, Leaves of Faith (vol. 2) - The World of Jewish Living, and By His Light: Character and Values in the Service of God. Based on Rabbi Lichtenstein's Talmud classes at Yeshivat Har Etzion, his students' notes have been edited and published as Shiurei Harav Aharon Lichtenstein on Tohorot, Zevahim, the eighth chapter of Bava Metzia and the first chapter of Pesahim.

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Views of non-Orthodox Judaism

Like most other Orthodox rabbis, Lichtenstein believes that all non-Orthodox Jewish denominations are incorrect. In the 1980s, with the resurgence of Orthodox Judaism well-established, debate emerged within the Orthodox community over whether Orthodox Jews should have any contact and cooperation with non-Orthodox forms of Judaism at all, and whether or not non-Orthodox forms of Judaism have any value. A few dozen Orthodox rabbis participated in a symposium on this topic in 1982. He then commented that:

Nor do I share the glee some feel over the prospective demise of the competition. Surely, we have many sharp differences with the Conservative and Reform movements and these should not be sloughed over or blurred. However, we also share many values with them and this, too, should not be obscured. Their disappearance might strengthen us in some respects but would unquestionably weaken us in others. And of course, if we transcend our own interests and think of the people currently served by these movements, many of them both presently and potentially well beyond our reach or how can they, or Klal Yisrael as a whole, be effected by such a change? Can anyone responsibly state that it is better for a marginal Jew in Dallas or in Dubuque to lose his religious identity altogether rather than drive to his temple?" (Symposium on the State of Orthodox Judaism, 1982 [Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought].)

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