Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff

Rabbi Dr. Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff
Compliments of the OU Production Dept
Position	Lecturer, Jewish History and Halacha
Yeshiva	Gruss Kollel
Personal details
Birth name	Arnold Rothkoff
Born	1937 New York City
Nationality	Israel  United States of America
Denomination	Orthodox Judaism
Residence	Jerusalem, Israel
Children	3 daughters
Alma mater	Yeshiva University
Semicha	YU, Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Lessin

Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff (born Dec 2, 1937^[1]) is Professor of Rabbinic Literature at Yeshiva University's Caroline and Joseph S. Gruss Institute in Jerusalem. He is a noted scholar, author and teacher who has taught thousands of students throughout his over 50 years of teaching. He spent four years studying under Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and remained very close to him afterwards.^[2] He quotes his rebbi's halachic and hashkafic views in his lectures.

Born Arnold Rothkoff, he changed his name to Aaron Rakeffet upon becoming an Israeli citizen.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Noteworthy Quotations 3 Education 4 Positions 5 Works 6 Articles 7 Lectures 8 Notes 9 External links

Biography

Rabbi Rakeffet attended Bnei Akiva as a youth. Meir Kahane was one of his madrichim (counselors). Rabbi Rakeffet met his future wife Malkah while giving a shiur at Bnei Akiva.^[3]

Rabbi Rakeffet started his career in 1961 as a pulpit rabbi at Lower Merion Synagogue in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.^[4] In 1962, he moved from Lower Merion to become spiritual leader of the first Orthodox synagogue in suburban Essex County, Congregation Beth Ephraim of Maplewood and South Orange, New Jersey. During that time, he also served as a high school rebbe at Yeshiva University High School for Boys. In 1969, he moved to Israel and worked as a Staff Editor for the Encyclopaedia Judaica.^[5] He also wrote numerous entries, including the one for Rabbi Joseph Dov Soloveitchik^[6] and Rabbi Eliezer Silver.^[7]

Upon the conclusion of the Encyclopaedia Judaica project, Rabbi Rakeffet pursued his love of teaching. He was a pioneer in Torah education for diaspora students in Israel. He was a member of the initial 1969 faculty of Jerusalem Torah College (BMT) and taught there for twenty years. He also taught at Machon Gold and Michlalah. He was also a founding faculty member at Midreshet Moriah, an advanced Torah study program for women.^[8]

Rabbi Rakeffet has been a member of the Gruss Kollel faculty since its inception in 1976.^[9] He also recruited Dr. Nechama Leibowitz to teach there as well.

Rabbi Rakeffet served in the Israel Defense Forces until the maximum allowable age. He served in Lebanon during the 1982 Lebanon War. ^[10]

In 1981, he was recruited by Aryeh Kroll to join the Mossad's clandestine Nativ operation to teach Torah in the Soviet Union.^[11] Rabbi Rakeffet visited the Soviet Union in 1981, 1985, and 1989 together with his wife Malkah, and recruited 200 others to also visit. His initial visit motivated him to help found the Shvut Ami organization.

Rabbi Rakeffet felt strongly that a documentary should be made about Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik. After much effort, he found Ethan Isenberg to produce the film, and a donor to subsidize it. The documentary "The Lonely Man of Faith: The Life and Legacy of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik" was first shown in November 2006.^[12][13]

Rabbi Rakeffet finished his 10 year effort of writing his personal scholarly memoir, "From Washington Avenue to Washington Street", in the summer of 2009. The book shipped in July 2011.^[9].^{[14] [15]}

Noteworthy Quotations

• You can not be a good Zionist unless you know Vayoel Moshe by heart. Once you know Vayoel Moshe by heart, with Al HaGeula Ve’Al Hatemura…then you can be a Zionist. Until then you’re a faker. .^[16][17][18]
• My life is an open book. There is nothing I’ve done in my life which I hide from you, the good or the bad. Students have to know everything about a rebbe. If the rebbe hides something, then you have to throw that rebbe out. It’s a sign he can’t be a rebbe.^[19]

• If we take the point of view that we have to educate students but not clone them, then...we just have to say לא דרכי דרכיכם ולא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם..and.^[20] As a rebbe for so many years, I pride myself that I never tried to clone my students...I have so many students that became Chasidim, Chabadnikim, someone found their roots going back to Belz, I even have a Gerrer or two among the thousands of students I taught over the years, and so many different lifestyles. Ribbono shel `Olam, as long as they are filled with Torah and Yirat Shamayim, why should I object? … Do I have to feel that if they don’t think exactly the way I do I failed? Chas V’Chalila..^[21]

Education

• Yeshiva Salanter Parochial School
• Yeshiva University High School for Boys (1955 Valedictorian)
• Lakewood Yeshiva (1954–1955)
• Yeshiva College (Yeshiva University) (1955–1959; Graduation Summa Cum Laude)
• Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary - RIETS (ordination 1961)
• Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies (M.A., M.H.L., doctorate 1967)

Positions

• Spiritual leader of Lower Merion Synagogue in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania (1961–1962)
• Seven years as spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Ephraim and Maplewood Jewish Center in New Jersey (1962–1969)
• High School Rebbe at Yeshiva University High School for Boys (1962–1969)
• Staff Editor for Encyclopaedia Judaica. (1969–1971)
• Jerusalem Torah College (BMT) (1969–1989)
• Machon Gold (1971–1989)
• Michlalah (The Jerusalem College for Women) (1971–1986)
• Midreshet Moriah (1987–2002)
• Gruss Kollel (1976 - )

Works

• Bernard Revel: Builder of American Jewish Orthodoxy (1971)
• The Silver Era: Rabbi Eliezer Silver and His Generation (1982)
• Rakafot Aharon (1997) - 2 volumes, collected published writing, Published by Shvut Ami
• The Rav - The World of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (1999) - 2 volumes, KTAV Publishing House, Inc. ISBN 0-88125-614-5 (vol 1) and ISBN 0-88125-615-3 (vol 2)
• From Washington Avenue to Washington Street (2011), Gefen Publishing House and OU Press. ISBN 978-9652295651

Articles

• Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought: Rakeffet-Rothkoff entries
• The Commentator: The Torah and Rabbinics of the Early YC Years
• Jewish Action: Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought

Lectures

• Online archive of articles and talks at YUTorah.org
• Hesped for Joe DiMaggio #1
• Hesped for Joe DiMaggio #2

Notes

External links

• "Shvut Ami". http://www.shvutami.org.il. 

Persondata
Name	Rakeffet-Rothkoff, Aaron
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1937
Place of birth	New York City
Date of death
Place of death