Historian Marc B. Shapiro responded to my inquiry: “I am not sure what they mean by “important”. Is important the same as influential? They have many of the big ones, but are also missing some. How about the Satmar Rebbes, who have a very large following. I think R. Herschel Schachter has to be at the top of the list if we want to know who is the most influential Orthodox in the Orthodox world. However, he doesn’t have influence in the Jewish community at large, while Krinsky, Hier et al do.”<\/p>\n
Here are the Orthodox selections in Newsweek’s list of the top 50 rabbis in America<\/a>:<\/p>\n Orthodox selections:<\/p>\n 2. Yehuda Krinsky (Orthodox)<\/p>\n No. 1 the last two years, Krinsky is still at the top of his game, 8. Marvin Hier & Abraham Cooper (Orthodox)<\/p>\n We\u2019ve grouped Hier and Cooper because these rabbis represent the same 11. Avi Weiss (Modern Orthodox)<\/p>\n Richard 12. Hershel Schachter (Orthodox)<\/p>\n Considered one of the few living sages for his sweeping expertise in 16. Shmuel Goldin (Orthodox) 21. Shmuel Kamenetsky (Haredi) 24. Asher Lopatin (Modern Orthodox) 26. Haskel Lookstein (Orthodox) 27. Arthur Schneier (Orthodox) 30. Shmuley Boteach (Orthodox) 32. Sara Hurwitz (Modern Orthodox) 35. Marc Schneier (Orthodox) 40. Shmuly Yanklowitz (Modern Orthodox) 42. Dov Linzer (Modern Orthodox) 44. Steven Greenberg (Modern Orthodox) Historian Marc B. Shapiro responded to my inquiry: “I am not sure what they mean by “important”. Is important the same as influential? They have many of the big ones, but are also missing some. How about the Satmar Rebbes, … Continue reading
\nrunning the sprawling and influential Chabad movement, though not
\nwithout a few hiccups this past year. Dogged by pesky lawsuits and
\nstill embroiled in a decades-long litigation to reclaim the late Rebbe
\nMenachem Schneerson\u2019s collection of books and manuscripts from a
\nRussian government that has refused to return them for 70 years (the
\nlawsuit took a particularly nasty turn this year when the Russians
\nretaliated with an art embargo of the U.S.), Krinsky nonetheless
\nremains among the most influential clergy spreading a brand of Judaism
\nto the furthest reaches of the globe. Chabad opened a new center in
\nPortugal this past year, the 78th country it can now boast a presence
\nin among the thousands of centers it has opened in the past few
\ndecades.\u201d They even have outposts in such unlikely places as Harlem,
\nthe Bowery, and Phnom Penh. One hundred twenty new educational
\ninstitutions were established in 2011, and Chabad’s conference for
\nfemale shluchot (emissaries sent out to spread the message) drew more
\nthan 3,000 women in February. (2011: #1)<\/p>\n
\nL.A.-based Jewish human-rights organization, the Simon Wiesenthal
\nCenter, a crucial watchdog of anti-Semitism throughout the world.
\nFounder and dean Hier, who is also a member of the Academy of Motion
\nPicture Arts and Sciences and produces films on Jewish subjects,
\nrecently called upon the Obama administration to investigate the
\ndisplay of the SS flag by American Marine snipers. (The Marines
\nmaintained the soldiers didn\u2019t realize the significance of the
\ndouble-S symbol.) Abraham Cooper, who meets regularly with
\ninternational leaders, recently trained the spotlight on Holocaust
\ndenial. Hier and Cooper issued a statement about Iran in February
\nsaying, \u201cThis is the first time since the Nazis\u2019 Final Solution that
\nsuch explicit plans for a genocide against the Jewish people is being
\npromoted.\u201d (2011: #5, #28)<\/p>\n
\nSenior rabbi at Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, Weiss is considered the
\nfather of a brand of Orthodoxy he calls \u201cOpen Orthodoxy,\u201d which
\nmaintains strict observance while also expanding its definition. He
\nfounded Yeshiva Chovevei Torah (YCT), whose graduates continue to earn
\nimpressive placements in shuls, schools, and organizations, though
\nsome face resistance from the old guard who challenge YCT\u2019s Orthodox
\ncredentials. He will soon face the controversial question of what to
\ncall the women graduating from Yeshiva Maharat\u2014the second seminary
\nhe\u2019s founded and the first for Orthodox women spiritual leaders. Known
\nfor his decades of brash activism, Weiss was arrested last fall in
\nfront of the U.N. while protesting the Palestinian statehood bid.
\n(2011: #12)<\/p>\n
\nTalmud and a beloved teacher by many, Schachter is widely thought to
\nhave pushed Yeshiva University to the right religiously, socially, and
\npolitically. He is against various forms of modernity in the name of
\npreserving rigorous Halacha (Jewish law), opposing organ donation for
\nbrain death, not recognizing female prayer groups, and resisting the
\ninitiatives of his fellow YU alum Avi Weiss (#11) to foster women as
\nspiritual leaders. Schachter is a dominant, intimidating force behind
\nthe RCA (see Goldin, #16), but his sense of humor was glimpsed this
\nyear when he made a brief cameo appearance in one of the hip
\nMaccabeats\u2019 viral music videos. (2011: #14)<\/p>\n
\nThis year Goldin became head of Modern Orthodoxy\u2019s largest rabbinic
\nassociation, the RCA (Rabbinical Council of America), whose membership
\nhas clashed recently over whether women can be considered clergy and
\nwhether only a select list of Orthodox rabbis can perform authentic
\nconversions. Known has a conciliator amidst extremists in the RCA (and
\nexpected to use his new position to staunch the right-wing drift),
\nGoldin has, for 28 years, served Congregation Ahavath Torah in
\nEnglewood, N.J. He also teaches at Yeshiva University, a feeder to the
\nRCA, which has turned its back on Avi Weiss\u2019s graduates from YCT (see
\n#11) who are refused membership. (NEW)<\/p>\n
\nThe vice president of the Haredi umbrella organization, Agudath Israel
\nof America’s Supreme Council of Rabbinic Sages, Kamenetsky has
\nenormous sway when it comes to the official Haredi position on social
\nand political issues or halachic questions. Last fall he urged the
\nrabbinate to sign a \u201cDeclaration on the Torah Approach to
\nHomosexuality,\u201d which advocates \u201creparative therapy,\u201d and last July,
\nwhile the tragic disappearance of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky was in its
\nsecond day in Brooklyn, he said that sexual abuse should be reported
\nnot to the police but to a rabbi, who would then decide whether to
\ncall the cops. (After an uproar, he softened this position.) The dean
\nof the Talmudical Yeshiva in Philadelphia, Kamenetsky is one of the
\nmost esteemed gedolim\u2014arbiters of Jewish law in the ultra-Orthodox
\nworld. (NEW)<\/p>\n
\nunknown
\nThe rabbi at Anshe Sholom B\u2019nai Israel, an Orthodox synagogue in
\nChicago known especially for its famous member Rahm Emanuel, Lopatin
\nplans to make aliyah (emigrate permanently to Israel) this summer to
\n\u201cbuild a pluralistic and diverse community in the Negev.\u201d (Thirty
\nfamilies from his congregation have already made the move at his
\nurging, but Lopatin was delayed because his 9-year-old daughter faced
\na life-threatening illness best treated in the U.S..) Lopatin has
\nalways been a bit of an amalgam: he mixes his Yeshiva University
\neducation with his M.Phil. in medieval Arabic thought from Oxford
\nUniversity, earned while on a Rhodes fellowship. He also writes about
\nhot-button issues such as feminism, conversion, and the Arab Spring
\nfor Morethodoxy, a liberal Orthodox blog on which male rabbis write
\nalongside Sara Hurwitz (#32). Recently he blogged a whirlwind
\ninterfaith tour from Jakarta, through Dubai and Amman, to Jerusalem.
\n(2011: #21)<\/p>\n
\nThe rabbi who converted Ivanka Trump, Lookstein has pledged to rebuild
\nhis historic synagogue, Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, after a
\ndevastating fire last summer. Known for his irreverence when it comes
\nto towing the Orthodox party line, this longtime principal of
\nManhattan\u2019s Ramaz School, recently came down hard on the
\nultra-Orthodox in Israel who terrorized 8-year-old Naama Margolese on
\nher way to school. He called it a \u201ctragedy in the form of the
\nincreasing demonization of women by extremists in the Haredi community
\nand, unfortunately, in a broader segment of religious society.\u201d He
\nturned the mirror back on his own community, and many consider him a
\nrare combination of modern thinking and unimpeachable scholarship.
\n(2011: #30)<\/p>\n
\nAP Photo
\nSchneier, a Holocaust survivor, just celebrated 50 years at the helm
\nof New York\u2019s Orthodox Park East Synagogue. (New York Assembly Speaker
\nSheldon Silver introduced a legislative resolution to honor him.)
\nThough many grumble about Schneier\u2019s self-importance, there\u2019s no
\ndenying that his reach and recognition are global: in 2011 he
\nparticipated in the fourth annual forum on development in Doha, Qatar,
\nas an ambassador of the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations, he took a
\nhumanitarian mission to Cuba to seek the release of American prisoner
\nAlan Gross, and he received the French Legion of Honor medal and an
\nOrder of Merit of the Republic of Poland for helping develop
\nPolish-Jewish dialogue. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations,
\nSchneier is also the father of Hamptons Rabbi Marc Schneier (#35) who,
\nyears ago, was being groomed as Park East\u2019s heir apparent, but who
\nclearly preferred to carve his own path. (2011: #26)<\/p>\n
\nKnown for his bestselling books on parenting and sex, Boteach \u201cthrew
\nhis yarmulke in the ring\u201d to run for a congressional seat in New
\nJersey to \u201cbring Jewish values into the political discourse\u201d and won
\nthe Republican nomination. He has said he\u2019ll consider legislation \u201cto
\nre-create an American Sabbath so parents have an incentive to take
\ntheir kids to a park rather than teaching them to find satisfaction in
\nthe impulse purchase.\u201d There is ample Boteach bashing among fellow
\nclergy because of what\u2019s perceived as his unremitting self-promotion,
\nand his political candidacy has not been helped by a report in The
\nForward that said an \u201cexamination of public records reveals that the
\ncharity Boteach heads spends a significant portion of its revenues on
\npayments to Boteach and his family.\u201d (2011: #11)<\/p>\n
\nConsidered a full member of the clergy by her Modern Orthodox
\ncongregation, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale (her title is \u201cRabba\u201d not
\n\u201cRabbi\u201d), Hurwitz continues to be outspoken on the value and
\nlegitimacy of women in Orthodox spiritual leadership. She recently
\njoined the debate about modesty and gender segregation in Israel and
\nAmerica, writing, \u201cHalakha [Jewish Law] should not be manipulated into
\na smokescreen shielding men and sidelining women who have the
\npotential to enhance our community.\u201d She is the dean of the first
\nseminary created expressly to train Orthodox women for leadership,
\nYeshivat Maharat. It remains to be seen what title will be given to
\nwomen in the first graduating class when they go job hunting next
\nyear. (2011: #32)<\/p>\n
\nRichard A. Lobell Photography
\nThough many would prefer he spent less time in the tabloids, this
\nrabbi of the popular Hampton Synagogue on Long Island (and son of
\nArthur #27) has done consistently bold work on Jewish-Muslim
\ncoexistence. In partnership with Imam Shamsi Ali, a Muslim scholar who
\nleads New York\u2019s largest mosque, and through his Foundation For Ethnic
\nUnderstanding, which is chaired by hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons
\n(Schneier and Simmons enjoyed a private audience with Israeli
\npresident Shimon Peres last month), Schneier charts unorthodox waters
\nfor an Orthodox rabbi. This past year, he worked behind the scenes to
\nget a group of American imams to write a letter to Hamas making the
\nKoranic case for releasing Gilad Shalit. (REINSTATED FROM PRE-2011
\nLISTS)<\/p>\n
\nThe energetic Founder and President of Uri L\u2019Tzedek, an influential
\nOrthodox social Justice group, Yanklowitz was described by one
\nobserver of the Jewish world as \u201cthe face of the future, because he
\nworks round the clock and creates a new organization every week.\u201d
\n(His latest is a center for Jewish vegans, cofounded with musician
\nMatisyahu.) The author of Jewish Ethics & Social Justice: A Guide for
\nthe 21st Century, he trained at Avi Weiss\u2019s YCT (#11) and is probably
\nthe first Orthodox rabbi to quote Foucault to advocate for prison
\nreform. (NEW)<\/p>\n
\nThe dean of the Modern Orthodox Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT),
\n(founded by Avi Weiss, #11) Linzer stirred the Orthodox waters in
\nJanuary with his provocative New York Times op-ed claiming that
\nHaredim \u201cobjectify and hyper-sexualize women\u201d against the letter and
\nspirit of the Torah and Talmud. Over the past 10 years, 80 of his
\ngraduates have been placed in\u2014or have created\u2014significant synagogues,
\nschools, and national organizations, including Shmuly Yanklowitz (see
\n#40) and New Orleans\u2019s Rabbi Uri Topolosky, who lost his temple in
\nHurricane Katrina and will be rededicating a new one this coming
\nsummer. (2011: #44)<\/p>\n
\nA senior teaching fellow at CLAL and a founder and co-director of the
\nnew group, Eshel, which aims to expand the welcome for GLBT Jews in
\nOrthodox communities, Greenberg is considered the first openly gay
\nOrthodox rabbi and is often asked to talk about his landmark book,
\nWrestling with God and Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition.
\nLast fall Greenberg performed what was considered the first gay
\nmarriage by an openly gay Orthodox rabbi in Washington, D.C. \u201cI did
\nnot conduct a \u2018gay Orthodox wedding,\u2019\u201d he wrote in The Jewish Week. \u201cI
\nofficiated at a ceremony that celebrated the decision of two men to
\ncommit to each other in love and to do so in binding fashion.\u201d (2011:
\n#50)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"