Mayer Alter Horowitz is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

. Since 2009, he has been the Bostoner

rebbe A Rebbe () or Admor () is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spirituality (Audio)''. UCTV, 20 Oct 2011. web. ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Early life and education

Horowitz was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, the son of Levi Yitzchak Horowitz, the second Bostoner rebbe, and Raichel Unger Leifer. He is a ninth-generation descendant in the male line of Shmuel Shmelke Horowitz, the Nikolsburger rebbe. His older brother, Pinchos Dovid Horowitz, is the Bostoner-Chuster rabbi of

Borough Park, Brooklyn Borough Park (also spelled Boro Park) is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, in New York City. The neighborhood is bordered by Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Bensonhurst to the south, Dyker Heigh ...

, and his younger brother, Naftali Yehuda Horowitz, is the Bostoner rebbe of

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...

. Horowitz received his rabbinic ordination at the Ponevezh Yeshiva in

Bnei Brak Bnei Brak ( ) or Bene Beraq, is a city located on the central Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Israeli coastal plain, coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an area of 709 hectares (1,752 acre ...

and

Beth Medrash Govoha Beth Medrash Govoha (, pronounced: ''Beis Medrash Gavo'ha''. lit: "High House of Learning"; also known as Lakewood Yeshiva or BMG) is a Haredi Jewish Litvishe ''yeshiva'' in Lakewood Township, New Jersey. It was founded by Rabbi Aharon Kotle ...

Lakewood, New Jersey Lakewood Township is the most populous township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A rapidly growing community, as of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 135,158, its highest decennial count ever and ...

. From 1969 to 1989 he was the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Pinchas in

Move to Israel

In 1984 he and a group of Bostoner Hasidim immigrated to Israel and helped found Mosdos Boston of Israel, which established the Bostoner community of

Har Nof Har Nof () is a neighborhood on a hillside on the western boundary of Jerusalem with a population of 20,000 residents, predominantly Orthodox Jews. History In Talmudic times, Har Nof was an agricultural settlement that served Jerusalem. Remains o ...

. He became the Senior Rabbi of the Givat Pinchas synagogue, continuing in that capacity as Bostoner Rebbe of Jerusalem. In 1980, Horowitz helped establish Kollel Boston in the Bukharim quarter of Jerusalem. The Kollel moved to Har Nof with the establishment of the Bostoner community there. From 1984 to 1989, Horowitz traveled back and forth between Boston and Har Nof, and beginning in 1989 settled permanently in Har Nof. In the late 1980s, he established a second synagogue in Har Nof, called Beis Shlomo, and continued as Senior Rabbi until 1995. In 1998, he helped his father establish the Bostoner Community in

Beitar Illit Beitar Illit (; officially Betar Illit; ) is a Haredi Jewish-Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, southwest of Jerusalem in the West Bank. Beitar Illit is one of Israel's largest and most rapidly ...

. In 2007, he founded Machon HaNesher HaGadol, a publication company.

As Grand Rabbi

In 2009, after the death of his father, he was designated to succeed his father in Har Nof. He also took his father's position as a member of the

Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (, "Council of great Torah ages) is the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah movements in Israel; and of Agudath Israel of America in the United States. Members are usually ...

of Agudath Israel of Israel. Horowitz frequently travels to Jewish communities in Israel, Europe, and North America to proselytize for Bostoner Hasidism. Since becoming Bostoner Rebbe of Jerusalem in 2009, he has visited

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Waterbury had a population of 114,403 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. The city is southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury i ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, and

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, among others. In the summer of 2012, Horowitz helped launch a weekly magazine publication in conjunction with ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...

'' called ''Kosher English'', designed to help Israeli Haredi readers learn and improve their English-language skills, and supervises its publication. In the Bostoner tradition, Horowitz has composed dozens of original songs and melodies including "''Borey Niv''" "''Re'ay Nah''" and "''Yivorechicho''"

References

External links

Bostoner Rebbe Mayer Alter Horowitz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horowitz, Mayer Alter American Hasidic rabbis Living people Ponevezh Yeshiva alumni Rebbes of Boston Year of birth missing (living people) he:חסידות בוסטון#הדור השלישי