Michael Joseph Schudrich (born June 15, 1955) is an American

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 ...

and the current Chief Rabbi of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. He is the oldest of four children of Rabbi David Schudrich and Doris Goldfarb Schudrich.

Biography

Born in New York City, Schudrich lived in Patchogue, New York, where his father served as a pulpit

. His grandparents emigrated to the United States from

Baligród Baligród ( uk, Балигород, ''Balyhorod'') is a village in Lesko County, in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (province) of south-eastern Poland. It is also the seat of the municipality (''gmina'') called Gmina Baligród. Location: 49°21' ...

, before World War II. Educated in

Jewish day schools A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiate s ...

in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

area, Schudrich graduated from Stony Brook University in 1977 with a Religious Studies major and received an MA in History from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1982. He received Conservative

smicha Semikhah ( he, סמיכה) is the traditional Jewish name for rabbinic ordination. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 ...

(rabbinical ordination) from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and later, an Orthodox smicha through

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universi ...

from Rabbi Moshe Tendler. He served as rabbi of the

Jewish Community Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

of Japan from 1983 to 1989. After leading Jewish groups on numerous trips to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, Schudrich began working for the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation and resided in Warsaw, Poland, from 1992 to 1998. He returned to Poland in June 2000 as Rabbi of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

and

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

, and in December 2004 was appointed Chief Rabbi of Poland. Schudrich has played a central role in the "Jewish Renaissance" in Poland. Schudrich is a member of the

Rabbinical Council of America The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) is one of the world's largest organizations of Orthodox rabbis; it is affiliated with The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, more commonly known as the Orthodox Union (OU). It is the main p ...

and the Conference of European Rabbis. In Kashrut he cooperates with the Orthodox Union, the

Chief Rabbinate of Israel The Chief Rabbinate of Israel ( he, הָרַבָּנוּת הָרָאשִׁית לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Ha-Rabbanut Ha-Rashit Li-Yisra'el'') is recognized by law as the supreme rabbinic authority for Judaism in Israel. The Chief Rabbinate C ...

and other Kashrut organizations. Schudrich has been a Polish citizen since November 3, 2005, and now holds both American and Polish citizenship. On May 27, 2006, Schudrich was assaulted with what appeared to be pepper spray in central Warsaw by a 33-year-old man. According to the police, the perpetrator had ties to "Nazi organizations" and a history of football-related hooliganism. Schudrich hit back, and the attack on him brought condemnation from Polish media and politicians. Rabbi Schudrich had been invited to travel on the aircraft that crashed on 10 April 2010, killing 96 people including the Polish president. He refused as it would have violated the

Jewish Sabbath Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

, a decision which saved his life. In February 2018, Rabbi Schudrich entered into discussion with the Polish parliament with the hope of amending a proposed animal-rights law that would restrict kosher slaughter in Poland. During the same month he implored with Jewish leaders to refrain from boycotting Poland over the "Holocaust law", which criminalizes any public statements that the Polish nation was complicit in Nazi war crimes.

References

External links

Warsaw's wounds: Poland’s chief rabbi symbolises a remarkable revival in Jewish life
''The Economist'', Feb 24th 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Schudrich, Michael Chief rabbis of Poland Polish Orthodox rabbis American Conservative rabbis American Orthodox rabbis American people of Polish-Jewish descent American emigrants to Poland American expatriates in Japan Columbia University alumni Stony Brook University alumni 1955 births Living people 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American rabbis

Biography

See also

References

External links