Mayer E. Twersky (born October 17, 1960) is an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

rabbi and one of the

roshei yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, pl. , '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and the Torah ...

at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (

RIETS Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS ) is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University (YU). It is located along Amsterdam Avenue in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Named after Yitzchak Elchanan ...

) of

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

. He holds the

Leib Merkin Leib is a given name, and (less often) a surname usually of Jewish origin. ''Leib'' often stems from לייב (''leib''), the Yiddish word for Hebrew "heart" לב (lev, leb) and with the diminutives Leibel/Leibl and Leibele, or from the Yiddish w ...

Distinguished Professorial Chair in Talmud and Jewish Philosophy. Twersky is from the

chassidic 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 affi ...

dynasty of

Chernobyl Chernobyl, officially called Chornobyl, is a partially abandoned city in Vyshhorod Raion, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. It is located within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, to the north of Kyiv and to the southwest of Gomel in neighbouring Belarus. ...

and is the younger son of Isadore Twersky. His brother, Mosheh Twersky, was murdered in the

2014 Jerusalem synagogue massacre On the morning of 18 November 2014, two Palestinian men from Jerusalem entered Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue, in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem, and attacked the praying congregants with axes, knives, and a gun. They killed four dual-na ...

. He is a 5th cousin of Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski. Other cousins include the Grand Rabbis of Chernobyl. He is also a grandson of Rabbi

Joseph B. Soloveitchik Joseph Ber Soloveitchik ( ''Yosef Dov ha-Levi Soloveychik''; February 27, 1903 – April 9, 1993) was a major American Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and modern Jewish philosopher. He was a scion of the Lithuanian Jewish Soloveitchik rabbinic ...

. Twersky attended the

Maimonides School Maimonides School (Hebrew: ישיבת רמב"ם ''Yeshivat Rambam'') is a coeducational, Modern Orthodox Judaism, Modern Orthodox, Jewish day school located in Brookline, Massachusetts. The school was founded in 1937 by Rabbi Joseph Soloveitch ...

, which his grandfather founded, through high school. He then attended

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, while studying Talmud privately with his grandfather. Following college, he studied for rabbinic ordination at

. He eventually became a teacher in the

Yeshiva University High School for Boys The Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (MTA), also known as Yeshiva University High School for Boys (YUHSB), is a Modern Orthodox Jewish day school and yeshiva of Yeshiva University. It is located in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan ...

and later a lecturer in RIETS. He has written articles in Hebrew for RIETS's annual Torah journal, and English articles in ''

Tradition A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...

'' and in the

Orthodox Union The Orthodox Union (abbreviated OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs f ...

's magazine ''

Jewish Action ''Jewish Action'' is an American Orthodox Jewish magazine published by the Orthodox Union. The magazine generally presents a Modern Orthodox viewpoint, and covers "topics of interest to an international Orthodox Jewish audience... ncludingartic ...

'' on subjects introducing the place of women in contemporary Orthodox Judaism. As of 2011 Twersky was on the board of the website TorahWeb, which frequently publishes his short English articles. The current shamash of the Rebbe is Yoni Besser.https://kollel.ncsy.org/summer-2023/chabura-spotlight-yoni-besser-2/ Besser spent two years studying in Yeshivat Sha'alvim before coming to Yeshiva University and serving as the Rebbe's shamash. Past shamashim include Daniel Goldstein, Yair Caplan, Jonah Steinmetz, Etan Schnall, Yitzi Genack, and Yosef Schwartz.

References

Online speeches and articles

TorahWeb.org Articles by Twersky
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twersky, Mayer 1960 births Living people Harvard College alumni American Orthodox rabbis Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary semikhah recipients Yeshiva University rosh yeshivas 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American rabbis Hasidic rebbes