Asher (Usher, Osher) Zelig Weiss (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: אשר וייס; born March 25, 1953) is a

posek In Jewish law, a ''posek'' ( , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the application of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah, in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities are incon ...

(decisor on points of Jewish law), rosh kollel (dean) of Machon Minchas Asher L’Torah V’Horaah and author of the ''Minchas Asher''. He grew up in a

Klausenberg Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

er hasidic family in

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 ...

Biography

Weiss was born in the United States where his father,

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, its collaborators before and during World War II ...

Moshe Weiss, was a real estate agent. He studied at

Sanz Sanz (or Tsanz, ) is a Hasidic dynasty originating in the city of Sanz ( Nowy Sącz) in Galicia. The dynasty was founded by the rebbe Rabbi Chaim Halberstam (1793–1876) who was the rabbi of Nowy Sącz and the author of the work ''Divrei ...

institutions in the United States. In 1966 the family immigrated to Israel and lived in Kiryat Sanz in

Netanya Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...

, where he studied and was close to Rabbi

Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam (; January 10, 1905 – June 18, 1994) was a rebbe (hereditary rabbinical leader) of the Hasidic Judaism, Hasidic dynasty of Klausenburg (Hasidic dynasty), Sanz-Klausenburg. Early life Halberstam was born in 1905 in ...

. In 2005 he founded Yeshivat Darchei Torah, which he headed. In its early years, Rabbi

Baruch Dov Povarsky Rabbi Baruch Dov Povarsky (born August 17, 1931), often referred to as Rabbi Berel Povarsky, is rosh yeshiva of one of the two divisions of the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, Israel. He served alongside Rabbi Gershon Edelstein in this role until ...

, head of the Ponevezh Yeshiva, worked with him. Weiss is a Torah scholar whose

lectures A lecture (from ) is an speech, oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history, backgroun ...

and halachic responsa influence

poskim In Jewish law, a ''posek'' ( , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the application of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah, in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities are inconc ...

(decisors of points of Jewish law) internationally. Weiss is posek for Shaarei Tzedek Medical Center, maintains a rabbinic court, Beis Din Tzedek Darchei Torah, and heads

kollel A kollel (also kolel) (, , , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced Torah study, study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features Shiur (Torah), shiurim (lectures) and ...

im (religious schools for adult men). The Keren Hachesed ‘Chasdei Pesia’ is a charity established in memory of his wife, Pesia Yenta Weiss. He is the Rosh Kollel of Machon Minchas Asher L’Torah V’Horaah. Weiss wrote the ''Minchas Asher''

books A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, mo ...

Jewish holidays Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' (, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.This article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. ...

, Torah, medicine and responsa. In 2021 he published a volume of the Minchas Asher responsa, which deals with the issues raised by the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

in Israel and its implications in

Halakha ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...

(Jewish law).

Family

Weiss was married to Pesiah Zalmanowitz, the daughter of Rabbi

Yisroel Aryeh Zalmanowitz Yisroel Aryeh Zalmanowitz (; December 29, 1916–June 23, 2003) was an Ashkenazi rosh yeshiva in Bursha before the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in ...

, and together, they had 6 children. She died in 2018.

References

External links

Rabbi Aharon Shteinman, The Gerrer Rebbe, and Rav Usher Weiss visit Los Angeles
at

Google Videos Google Search (also known simply as Google or Google.com) is a search engine operated by Google. It allows users to search for information on the Web by entering keywords or phrases. Google Search uses algorithms to analyze and rank websites ...

Audio lectures given by Rabbi Asher WeissHis shiurim, classes and responsa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Osher Hasidic rabbis in Israel Hasidic rosh yeshivas Living people People from Borough Park, Brooklyn American Hasidic rabbis 1953 births American emigrants to Israel 21st-century Israeli rabbis Hasidic poskim