Yonason Sacks
Yonason Sacks is an Orthodox rabbi and the Rosh Yeshiva of Lander College for Men, a division of Touro College, as well as the spiritual leader of the Agudas Yisroel of Passaic Park in Passaic, New Jersey.
Family history
Rabbi Sacks' grandfather was one of the leaders of Jewish education in Chicago, Illinois, and his great-grandfather was the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank. Rabbi Sacks dedicated his first book, Chemdas Yomim (focusing on the laws of the Sabbath) in memory of his father.
Education
Rabbi Sacks attended the high school headed by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin and Rabbi Pinchas Bak in Riverdale, New York in the mid 1970s.
Rabbi Sacks graduated from Yeshiva University in 1981 and was ordained by the University’s affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary in 1984. Two years later, he was awarded Yadin Yadin semikha.
Rosh Yeshiva
Rabbi Sacks was Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University from 1994 until 2012, when he became Rosh Yeshiva at Beis Midrash L'talmud, a part of Lander College.
Educational method
When giving a shiur Rabbi Sacks uses a two step approach to topic analysis. First, in an effort to understand the topic in a wider context than the case at hand, Rabbi Sacks will branch out into other areas of halacha (Jewish Law) examining the topic as it appears throughout the Talmud. The information gleaned from the broad analysis is applied to the case at hand. Secondly, Rabbi Sacks will elaborate on parenthetical points made by the Talmud, giving his students a background in these important issues.
Works
Sacks is the author of multiple books on Jewish law:
- Hagadas Chazon L'Yomim (Hebrew and English)
- Chazon L'Yomim 1, 2 & 3, which focuses on Tractate Pesachim, Beitzah
- Chemdas Yomim, which focuses on the laws of Shabbos
- Orchos Yomim, which focuses on kriyas shema and shmoneh esrei
- Yimei Temimim, which focuses on Pirkei Avos
- Yimei HaPurim, which focuses on the holiday of Purim
- Yimei HaSefira, which focuses on the days of Sefirat Ha'omer
- Yom HaZikaron, which focuses on the holiday of Rosh Hashanah
- Yimei Chanuka, which focuses on the holiday of Chanukah