Yitzchok Adlerstein (born 1950 in New York) 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 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 ...

. He is the co-founder of ''Cross-Currents'', an online journal of Orthodox Jewish thought, and regularly contributes to that site. He is on the editorial board of ''Klal Perspectives'', an online journal of issues facing the Orthodox community.

Career

Adlerstein served in an advisory and honorary position as one of the founding trustees of the

Association for Jewish Outreach Programs The Association for Jewish Outreach Programs, (formerly the Association for Jewish Outreach Professionals), also known by its abbreviation AJOP, is an Orthodox Jewish network which was established to unite and enhance the Jewish educational work of ...

(AJOP, known at the time as The Association for Jewish Outreach Professionals), delivering lectures and workshops to

Orthodox Jewish outreach Orthodox Jewish outreach, often referred to as ''Kiruv'' or ''Qiruv'' ( he, קירוב "bringing close"), is the collective work or movement of Orthodox Judaism that reaches out to non-observant Jews to encourage belief in God and life accord ...

rabbis. Adlerstein studied and received his advanced

rabbinical ordination 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 C ...

from the

Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim (also known as the Rabbinical Seminary of America) is an Orthodox Yeshiva in the United States, based in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, New York. It is primarily an American, Lithuanian-style Talmudic Yeshiva. The Yeshiva is l ...

in New York. He is a

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

graduate of

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...

, and a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

. Adlerstein is the director of

Interfaith Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

Affairs for the

Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating anti-Semitism, tolerance educat ...

. He holds the Sydney M. Irmas Adjunct Chair in

Jewish Law ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws which is derived from the Torah, written and Oral Tora ...

and

Ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

Loyola Law School Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Catholic university in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920. Academics Degrees offered include the Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Science in Legal ...

and teaches senior high school girls at

Yeshiva University High Schools of Los Angeles The Yeshiva University High School of Los Angeles (abbreviated YULA, pronounced ) is a college-preparatory, Modern Orthodox Jewish high school founded in 1979 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. It has no affiliation with Yeshiva University in New York City. ...

. He writes regularly for the ''Cross-Currents'' blog. He is the author of "Netivot Shalom: Insights on the Holidays and Avoda Based on the Writings of the Slonimer Rebbe" (, Maggid Books, 2019).

Controversies

Rabbi Adlerstein has frequently participated in controversial debates that have relevance to Orthodox Jews and their world outlook. During the Slifkin controversy over how Orthodoxy views

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

, Adlerstein was quoted in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' supporting Rabbi Slifkin, who faced intense pressures from Haredi rabbis to withdraw his books. Adlerstein is an outspoken opponent of the "

Bible Code The Bible code ( he, הצופן התנ"כי, ), also known as the Torah code, is a purported set of encoded words within a Hebrew text of the Torah that, according to proponents, has predicted significant historical events. The statistical like ...

" and has written articles and given lectures together with

Barry Simon Barry Martin Simon (born 16 April 1946) is an American mathematical physicist and was the IBM professor of Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Caltech, known for his prolific contributions in spectral theory, functional analysis, and nonre ...

on the topic. Adlerstein criticized the methods and notions behind the workings of the

Kabbalah Centre The Kabbalah Centre International is a non-profit organizationworldwide located in Los Angeles, California that provides courses on the Zohar and Kabbalistic teachings online as well as through its regional and city-based centers and study groups ...

Personal life

Adlerstein currently resides in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

with his wife, Reena.

References

Partial bibliography

To forgive or to shun, LA Weekly, March 28 2007

* ttp://www.ou.org/index.php/shabbat_shalom/article/chairmans_message/ Orthodox Union chairman's message, December 28, 2006(

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 for ...

)
Religion and Natural History Clash Among the Ultra-Orthodox, New York Times, March 22, 2005

External links

Cross-Currents Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adlerstein, Yitzchok 1950 births Living people People from Los Angeles Orthodox rabbis from New York City 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American rabbis