Meir Soloveichik

Meir Yaakov Soloveichik (born 1977)^[1] is an American Orthodox rabbi and writer. He is the son of Rabbi Eliyahu Soloveichik, grandson of the late Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik and the great nephew of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the late leader of American Jewry who identified with what became known as Modern Orthodoxy.

Education

Graduating from Yeshiva College in New York City he received rabbinic ordination (semicha) at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and studied philosophy of religion at Yale University Divinity School, although he never received a degree from Yale. He later received a PhD in Religion from Princeton University. He wrote his doctorate on the modern Orthodox theologian Michael Wyschogrod.

Career

A regular contributor to general interest and Jewish publications such as First Things, The Forward, Commentary Magazine, and the journal Azure, where he was Contributing Editor, he has written a number of articles concerning issues in Jewish thought and life, the relationship between Judaism and Christianity and the limits of interfaith dialogue established by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

He was the resident scholar of the Jewish Center in New York City and, later, Associate Rabbi at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, also in New York City. In May 2013, he became Rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York City, a Sephardic synagogue, and the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States.

He is the director of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University.^[2]

It had been reported that he had been considered a candidate to replace Jonathan Sacks as the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, but this report has not been confirmed.^[3]

In August 2012, he gave the invocation at the opening session of the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.^[4][5]

Brisker rabbinic dynasty

v t e

Esti Rosenberg, director of Migdal Oz (seminary)                                                                                                                     Rabbi Yitzchok Lichtenstein, Maggid Shiur at Yeshiva Bais Yosef-Novardok Brooklyn branch; mara d’asrah of Kehillas Bais Avrohom, Monsey, NY                                                                                               Rabbi Yosef Dov (Reb Berel) Soloveitchik     Rabbi Avrohom Yehoshua Soloveitchik       Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein, Co-Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion                                                                                                         Rabbi Meshulam Dovid (Reb Dovid) Soloveitchik     Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik       Rabbi Mayer Lichtenstein, Maggid Shiur at Yeshivat Otniel                                                                             Rabbi Yosef Dov (HaLevi) Soloveitchik author of Beis HaLevi   Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik "Reb Chaim Brisker"     Rabbi Yitzchak Zev (Reb Velvel) Soloveitchik "The GRIZ" The Brisker Rov     Lifsha Soloveitchik Feinstein       Dr. Tovah Soloveitchik Lichtenstein         Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt                                                                                                   Rabbi Refael Shapiro, Rosh Yeshiva of Volozhin yeshiva   Lifsha Shapiro               Rabbi Refoel Soloveitchik       Rabbi Dr. Aharon Lichtenstein       Tzipporah Rosenblatt                                                                                                   Rabbi Meir Soloveitchik       Dr. Atarah Soloveitchik Twersky       Rabbi Mosheh Twersky, Maggid Shiur at Yeshiva Toras Moshe                                                                                                             Rabbi Dr. Joseph B. (Yosef Dov) Soloveitchik "The Rav"       Rabbi Dr. Isadore Twersky, Talner Rebbe of Boston       Rabbi Mayer Twersky, Rosh Yeshiva at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary                                                                                         Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik     Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik         Rabbi Dr. Haym Soloveitchik       Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik, Rosh Yeshivas Brisk (Chicago); Rav of Kehilas Beth Sholom Ahavas Achim                                                                                                   Peshka Feinstein Soloveichik     Dr. Samuel Soloveichik                   Rabbi Eliyahu Soloveichik, Maggid Shiur at Lander College's Beis Medrash L'Talmud   Rabbi Meir Yaakov Soloveichik                                                                                                           Shulamit Soloveitchik Meiselman     Rabbi Moshe Meiselman, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Toras Moshe       Rabbi Yosef Soloveichik                                                                                                 Anne Soloveitchik Gerber                 Rabbi Chayim Soloveichik, Maggid Shiur at Yeshivat Reishit; Morah D’Asrah of Kehillat Ohr Sholom, Ramat Beit Shemesh                                                                                       Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik       Rabbi Shmuel Chaim Soloveitchik                                                                                                     Rabbi Yitzchok Soloveitchik       Rabbi Yisroel Soloveitchik                                                                                         Rabbi Yisroel Gershon Soloveitchik     Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik       Rabbi Boruch Soloveitchik                                                                                                             Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Soloveitchik                                                                                                     Daughter Soloveitchik, Wife of Rabbi Shlomo Zev Karlibach

Religious Writings

• "The Virtue of Hate," First Things, (February, 2003)

• "How Soloveitchik Saw Interreligious Dialogue," The Forward (2003)

• "Sanctity of Union: An Article of Faith," The Forward (2003)

• "Redemption and the Power of Man," Azure, (2004)

• "Orthodoxy and the Public Square - Symposium," Tradition, (2004)

• "The Jewish Mother: A Theology," Azure, (2005)

• "God’s Beloved: A Defense of Chosenness," Azure, (2005)

• "How Not to Become a Jew," Commentary,(2006)

• "Locusts, Giraffes, and the Meaning of Kashrut," Azure, (2006)

• "Rabbi Akiva's Optimism," Azure, (2007),

• "Of (Religious) Fences and Neighbors," Commentary, (March, 2007)

• "A Nation Under God: Jews, Christians, and the American Public Square," (2007/8)

• "No Friend in Jesus," First Things, (January, 2008)

• "Why Beards?," Commentary, (February, 2008)

• "Mysteries of the Menorah," Commentary, (March, 2008)

• "God’s First Love: The Theology of Michael Wyschogrod," First Things, (November, 2009)

• "To be German and Jewish : Hermann Cohen and Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch," Rav Chesed II, (2009)

• "Against Cloning - Symposium," Tradition, (2010)

• "Jonah and Yom Kippur," Jewish Ideas Daily, (September 2010)

• "Torah and Incarnation," First Things, (October, 2010)

• "God's Beloved: Election and Tradition in the Theology of Michael Wyschogrod,"" PhD. Dissertation, Princeton University, (2010)

• "The Universalism of Particularity," Hain, S and Hirt,R.S. (eds.), The Next Generation of Modern Orthodoxy, (2012)

• "Blessed Unions: What the Traditional Jewish Wedding Tells Us About the American Founding," Commentary, (2012)

Political Writings

• "Irving Kristol, Edmund Burke, and the Rabbis," Jewish Review of Books (2011)

• "Redefining Religious Activity," Jewish Ideas Daily, (February 2012)

• "Morality, Not Theology: The Importance of Romney's Liberty University Speech," The Weekly Standard, (May 2012)

• "A Weakness for Royalty: The Vindication of John Adams,"The Weekly Standard, (June 2012)

• "Bibi - Son of Benzion: The Netanyahu Legacy,"" The Weekly Standard, (August 2012)

• "The Real Israel Lobby: It's the American people," The Weekly Standard, (February 2013)

Lectures and Sermons

• 'Can All Religions Be True?' (2005)

• 'The Yibbum of Henry VIII' (2009)

• 'Torah Giants Confront Modernity: A Study of Rabbanim in the Age of Enlightenment' (2010)

Judaism and the Origins of America

• 'The Founding Father at the Huppah: A Reflection on America's Beginnings'

• 'Lincoln's Yahrzeit: Pesah and the Death of an American President'

• 'Mordecai Manuel Noah: The First Truly American Jew'

• 'Light and Truth: Hebrew in Early America'

Personal

He is married to Layaliza Soloveichick (née Klein), a 1997 graduate of Yale University Law School.

References

External links

• http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2006/02/20/meir-soloveichik-takes-on-the-issues/
• http://haemtza.blogspot.com/2007/03/rabbi-meir-yaakov-soloveichik.html
• http://seforim.traditiononline.org/index.cfm/2009/1/25/Thoughts-on-Confrontation--Sundry-Matters-Part-I-

Persondata
Name	Soloveichik, Meir
Alternative names
Short description	American rabbi
Date of birth	1977
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death