Yehuda Krinsky
Chaim Yehuda (Yudel) Krinsky (born 1933, Boston, Massachusetts[1]) is a Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic rabbi. He served for forty years in various positions as an important assistant to the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. He served as chief spokesman[2] for the Rebbe and the Lubavitch movement, and was named sole executor of Schneerson's will. He has been at the helm of the movement's finances since the death of Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Aizik Hodakov, the Rebbe’s chief of staff. He was also his chauffeur for many years. According to Avrum Erlich, "Krinsky is probably the most powerful individual in the contemporary Habad movement."[3]
Biography
Krinsky grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts and was educated at the Boston Latin School. At the age of 12, he was sent by his parents to study at the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva in Brooklyn,[1] where he received his rabbinical ordination. He was called upon to join Schneerson's staff in 1957.[1]
Activities
In the late 1950s Krinsky created the Lubavitch News Service. He was in charge of disseminating the Rebbe's talks around the world via satellite.[4]
In 1988, the Lubavitcher Rebbe set about reorganizing the organizational structures of the movement and Krinsky was reinstated as secretary of the three controlling boards. Currently, Krinsky is Chairman of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch and Machne Israel, the movement's educational and social services arms, secretary of the umbrella organization Agudas Chasidei Chabad, and director of the Kehot Publication Society.
After the Rebbe's wife died in 1988, the Rebbe appointed Krinsky as the sole executor of his will.[5] Krinsky has been active in helping to build new schools and expanding the reach of the Chabad movement around the world.[6]
He has been active in efforts to retrieve a large library of books connected to the Chabad movement which is in the custody of the Russian government. Many of the books were seized from the previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, as part of a Soviet crackdown on religion after the Russian Revolution. Krinsky garnered the support of actor Jon Voight and politician Sam Brownback for his cause.[7]
Family
Krinsky is married to Devorah Kasinetz, daughter of the late Rabbi Zev and Ethel Kasinetz. Their children are:
- Rabbi Levi Krinsky, director of Chabad of New Hampshire.
- Rabbi Hillel David Krinsky, who is married to Shterna Sarah Garelik, daughter of Gershon Garelik, the chief rabbi of Milan, Italy.[8] He is the president of Chabad's Jewish Educational Media.
- Menachem M. Krinsky, who is married to Miriam Turner of Chicago.
- Rabbi Shmaya Krinsky, who is married to Rivkah Gutnick, daughter of Australian commodities magnate Joseph Gutnick.[9]
- Sheine B. Krinsky, who is married to Rabbi Yosef B. Friedman, associate director of the Kehot Publication Society.[10]
- Chana Krinsky, who is married to Rabbi Joseph Futerfas, director of Camp Gan Israel, New York.
Recognition
Krinsky was named to the Forward 50 in 2005.[11]
He received the second-place mention in a list of the fifty most influential US rabbis compiled by Newsweek in 2007, behind Marvin Hier.[12] He received the fourth-place mention in Newsweek's 2008[13] and 2009[14] lists.
In 2010 he earned Newsweek's first-place mention in the list of the fifty most influential US rabbis.[15]
Sources
- ^ a b c "Testimony :: Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky". Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. http://www.csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContentRecords.ViewWitness&ContentRecord_id=613&ContentType=D&ContentRecordType=D&ParentType=H. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
- ^ Sperter, Michael (19 March 1992). "Jewish faithful flock to Brooklyn orthodox sect leader". New York Times Magazine.
- ^ Ehrlich, M. Avrum. The Messiah of Brooklyn: Understanding Lubavitch Hasidim Past and Present. Ktav Publishing. ISBN 0881258369. (Chapter 20)
- ^ "Rabbi using modern medium in call for traditional values". The New York Times, 23 January 1983.}}
- ^ "Last will and testament of Menachem Mendel Schneerson". 14 February 1988. http://mentalblog.com/filedepot/PDF/RAMASHwills.pdf. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
- ^ Gonzalez, David (8 November 1994). "Lubavitchers Learn to Sustain Themselves Without the Rebbe". The New York Times.
- ^ Hananel, Sam (6 April 2005). "Commission hears efforts to retrieve Jewish texts from Russia". Associated Press.
- ^ "Shterna Sarah Garelik Bride Of Rabbi Hillel David Krinsky". The New York Times. 8 April 1981. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9502EEDA1139F93BA35757C0A967948260. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
- ^ "WEDDINGS; Rivkah Gutnick, Shmaya Krinsky". The New York Times. 5 June 1994. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9907EEDB113BF936A35755C0A962958260. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
- ^ "Sheine B. Krinsky Is the Bride Of Rabbi Joseph B. Friedman". The New York Times. 3 April 1979. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F50E11F7355D12728DDDAA0894DC405B898BF1D3. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
- ^ PR Newswire (10 November 2005). "Rapper, Republicans, Relief Org. Heads and Rabbis Named to Forward 50, by America's National Jewish Newspaper".
- ^ Lynton, Michael (2 April 2007). "The Top 50 Rabbis in America". Newsweek. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17721005/site/newsweek/.
- ^ Lynton, Michael (11 April 2008). "Top 50 Influential Rabbis in America". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/id/131600/.
- ^ Lynton, Michael; Ginsberg, Gary; Sanderson, Jay (2009). "50 Influential Rabbis". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/id/192430. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
- ^ Lynton, Michael; Ginsberg, Gary (2010). "The 50 Most Influential Rabbis in America". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/2010/06/28/the-50-most-influential-rabbis-in-america.html/. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
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Krinsky, Yehuda |
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1933 |
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