Shea Hecht
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Shea Hecht is the chairman of the board of the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education and a leading Chabad rabbi. He is the son of the late Rabbi Jacob J. Hecht, one of the closest confidants of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Grand Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
Biography
Hecht is a fifth generation New Yorker, born in Brooklyn. Born to Rabbi J.J. and Chavah Hecht he is one of twelve children. He was educated in the Lubavitch Yeshiva Central School System, where he received his rabbinic ordination.
He rose to prominence in the 1970s after he began a program that sought to remove and educate Jewish youths away from various cults. This inspired his autobiography Confessions of a Jewish Cult Buster.
As a community leader during the violent Crown Heights riot in 1991, Hecht worked across racial barriers in the pursuit of a harmonious side-by-side existence between the Hasidic and African-American communities. Along with Edison Jackson, he co-chaired the Crown Heights Coalition after its inception. For his leadership and service during the riots, he received the Buffalo Soldier Award.
Hecht was appointed by New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani as Commissioner of Human Rights and as member of the Police Task Force Committee. Additionally, in 1998, Mayor Giuliani appointed Hecht to the Committee for Proper Art in New York City.
Currently, he is a dean at Hadar Hatorah Yeshiva in Brooklyn, NY, a yeshiva dedicated to fostering the Baal Teshuvah movement, as well as a faculty member of the Ivy League Torah Study Program. He also served as the spiritual leader of the Seaview Jewish Center in Canarsie, Brooklyn.
Radio & press
After his father died, Hecht assumed the role of host of the "Shema Yisroel" radio program, a weekly one-hour show that focused on religion broadcast on WEVD in New York. Hecht was also featured as host alongside Felipe Luciano on the afternoon drive show on WWRL., and later moved to the morning drive show alongside Karen Hunter. He currently hosts the Dov Hikind show once a month on Sat night.
He writes a weekly column that has been printed in many papers across the world such as JPost Jewish press GOP USA and Israel National news.
Political views
He is a strong supporter of school vouchers.
Don King
Hecht is also known as Don King's Rabbi. As a result of their friendship, King donated one million dollars to N.C.F.J.E. Hecht was also publicly seen at the trial of King in New York city. King also marched alongside Hecht in Crown Heights to further Jewish and Black relations.
Family
Hecht is married to Baila (née Sufrin), the daughter of the late Rabbi A.D. Sufrin from London. Together they have ten children. His eldest son Rabbi Yitchok Hecht is a director of Chabad of Ulster County (NY). His son Levi Hecht is a real estate developer in New York, was named one of the "People to Watch" in the Hudson Valley in 2005. His son Rabbi Hanoch Hecht, also known as the Six Minute Rabbi (for his quick, inspiring Torah lessons) is the director of Chabad of Dutchess County and the spiritual leader of the Rhinebeck Jewish Center in Rhinebeck. NY
Controversies
Shea's perspectives on sex-abuse have recently come under attack. In a recent article from the Tablet Magazine, Hecht maintains, as opposed to secular civil officials such as the NYPD, that rabbis should be granted the discretion to determine whether victims are lying. 'The last time I remembered, I was ordained as a rabbi,' said Hecht. 'If the person [victim] came to me, I have at least the responsibility to decide if it’s true or not true, because they want guidance.'[1]
Subsequently, Orthodox sex abuse watchdog group, Jewish Community Watch (JCW) investigated and decried Hecht's efforts to maintain Rabbinical authority over sex-abuse matters. In a public statement, JCW condemned the statements, stating that "The ones who are responsible for not enabling are among the ranks of Shea Hecht who to our knowledge has obstructed justice by not reporting the many crimes that people told him about because he was seen as a mentor and so called professional who "dealt" with these so-called "issues".[2] JCW called on all victims of sex-abuse to avoid consulting with figures such as Hecht.