Rabbi Yuval Sherlo (born 1957) is a modern orthodox rabbi and posek. He is Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Hesder Petah Tikva in Petah Tikva, Israel. Sherlo was one of the founders of Tzohar, an organization of modern orthodox rabbis in Israel. He is a prominent and charismatic rabbi, noted for his willingness to deal with highly sensitive social and religious issues. His relatively liberal positions have made him a controversial figure in the eyes of the more conservative currents of orthodox Judaism in Israel.
Sherlo was born in Herzeliya to United States-born parents. He was educated in Yeshivat Har Etzion. As part of his Hesder studies, he served as an armor officer in the IDF. In the reserves he was a company commander (mefaked pluga) in the armoured corps.
His rabbinical career started in Kibbutz Tirat Tzvi, where he served as a rabbi and teacher. Later he served as a rabbi in Yeshivat HaGolan in Hispin, in the southern Golan Heights. After the Rabin assassination, he helped found Tzohar, whose aim was to lessen the tensions between religious and non religious communities. Those tensions had been exacerbated by the fact that the assassination had been committed by a young Yeshiva student.
In 1998 he founded Yeshivat Hesder in Petach Tikva, where he served as Rosh Yeshiva since its foundation. He justified his decision to start a new Yeshiva in the central area of Israel—not in a settlement or in a peripheral town—by saying that it is the place where the most important debates about the identity of the country take place.
Since 2001 Sherlo has answered more than 30,000 questions about Halakha and other issues related to Judaism via the Moreshet website. His answers are usually short and lack comprehensive Halakhic justification, a point that has drawn some criticism. He published two books based on his internet responsa. He has also published books that deal with Bible commentary as well as the writings of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Kook.
Sherlo is a member of the ethics committee of the Israeli Ministry of Health. He is also a member of the committee which allocates the budget for new drugs.
Sherlo opposes soldiers disobeying commands to evacuate settlements, as some soldiers did in the Gaza disengagement. He has voiced liberal positions on some issues, including allowing the use of artificial insemination by unmarried women in certain circumstances and in support of boys and girls having shared activities in Bnei Akiva.
He has voiced empathy for the difficulties faced by religious gays and called for the orthodox community to treat them with compassion. However, he still maintains that gay relationships are prohibited by Halakha.
He lives in the Israeli settlement in the West Bank of Efrat, along with his wife, who is a lecturer in the department of Jewish Philosophy In Bar Ilan University.