Nathaniel Helfgot (born December, 1963) is an American rabbi. He leads Congregation Netivot Shalom of

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...

, and served as president of the International Rabbinic Fellowship.

Early life

Helfgot studied at

Yeshivat Har Etzion Yeshivat Har Etzion (YHE; ), commonly known in English as "Gush" and in Hebrew as "Yeshivat HaGush", is a Hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. It is considered one of the leading institutions of advanced T ...

for two years and later attended

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

, the Azrieli Graduate School, and the

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary 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 S ...

, where he obtained his ''

semikhah ''Semikhah'' () is the traditional term for rabbiinic ordination in Judaism. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 CE. Si ...

'' (rabbinical ordination).

Career

Helfgot is the

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 ...

of Congregation Netivot Shalom, 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 ...

congregation in

.Yudelson, Larry (February 12, 2019
"In NJ, Orthodox Rabbis Vote to Bar a Colleague for Training Female Clergy"
''The Times of Israel''. Retrieved July 2, 2019. He served as president of the International Rabbinic Fellowship. Helfgot has taught at the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education, the

Frisch School The Frisch School, also known as Yeshivat Frisch , is a coeducational, Modern Orthodox, yeshiva high school located in Paramus, New Jersey. It was founded in 1972 by Rabbi Menachem Meier and Alfred Frisch. The school primarily serves the Jew ...

, the Ma'ayanot Yeshiva High School, and the

Torah Academy of Bergen County Torah Academy of Bergen County (commonly referred to as TABC) is a four-year yeshiva high school located in Teaneck, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The school utilizes a split-schedule day offering both Jewish studies and college p ...

, currently teaching at

Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School (YCT) is a Modern Orthodox yeshiva founded in 1999 by Rabbi Avi Weiss. Currently located in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx, New York, YCT's declared mission is to educate and place rabbis who are ...

and SAR High School, where he is also a department chair. He has served or continues to serve on the steering committee of the Orthodox Forum, as the plenum of the Orthodox Caucus, and on the board of the Association of Modern Orthodox Day Schools. Helfgot has published articles in various journals such as ''

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 ...

'', '' Tehumin'', ''

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 ...

'', Ten-Daat, Beit Yitzchak, '' Megadim'', Alon Shvut, Or HaMizrach, The Orthodox Forum Series, ''

The Jewish Week ''New York Jewish Week'' (formerly ''The Jewish Week'') is a weekly independent community newspaper targeted towards the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. History In March 2016, ''The Jewish Week'' announced its partners ...

'', The ''

Jewish Standard The ''Jewish Standard'' is a newspaper based in Teaneck, New Jersey, USA, that primarily serves the Jewish community in Bergen County and Northeastern New Jersey. The ''Jewish Standard'' was founded in 1931, and is the oldest Jewish weekly in ...

'', and Hamevaser. In July 2010, as a response to the December 2009 panel held at

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

under the title "Being Gay in the Modern Orthodox World", Helfgot published an online "Statement of Principles on the Place of Jews with a Homosexual Orientation in Our Community" which garnered hundreds of signatures. In February 2019, a three quarters majority of the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County's (RCBC) board voted, after meeting twice, to amend its bylaws in order to remove Helfgot and Netivot Shalom from its affiliation over his hiring of a female rabbinic intern from

Yeshivat Maharat Yeshivat Maharat is a Jewish educational institution in The Bronx, New York, which is the first Orthodox-affiliated yeshiva in North America to ordain women. The word ''Maharat'' () is a Hebrew acronym for phrase ''manhiga hilkhatit rukhanit Tora ...

. Helfgot, who was present at both meetings and addressed the council, issued a statement both praising the RCBC as an institution and expressing his "disagreement and disappointment" with its decision. The RCBC and Helfgot have since come to an agreement, with him and his synagogue remaining members in good standing with the organization.

Personal life

Helfgot is married to Rachel Brenner.Schwartz, Bracha (May 4, 2017
"Teaneck Students Place in Top Ten at Chidon HaTanach in Jerusalem"
''Jewish Link NJ''. Retrieved August 27, 2019. They have four children.

Published works

* * Helfgot, Nathaniel. ''Divrei Berakah U’Moed: Halakhic Essays on the Topics of Holidays and Blessings''. Yeshivat Har Etzion. * ''Community, Covenant, and Commitment: Selected Letters and Communications of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik'' (). Toras HaRav Foundation. * ''The YCT Companion to the Book of Samuel''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helfgot, Nathaniel 1963 births Living people Rabbis from New Jersey People from Teaneck, New Jersey Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary semikhah recipients Yeshiva University alumni 21st-century American rabbis Yeshivat Har Etzion alumni