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 t ...

. 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'' ( "bringing close"), is the collective work or movement of Orthodox Judaism that reaches out to non-Orthodox or non-observant Jews to encourage belief in God and life accor ...

rabbis. Adlerstein studied and received his advanced

rabbinical ordination ''Semikhah'' () is the traditional term for rabbiinic ordination in Judaism. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal Oral Torah#Rabbinic thought, "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' cease ...

from the

Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim (also known as the Rabbinical Seminary of America) is an Orthodox yeshiva based in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, New York, United States. It is primarily an American, non-chasidic Haredi Talmudic yeshiva. The yeshiva is lega ...

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 Sout ...

graduate of

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

, and a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

. Adlerstein is the director of

Interfaith Interfaith (also called "interreligion") may refer to various ways of relating between beliefs, creeds, ideologies, faiths, or religions: * Interfaith conflict (disambiguation) * Interfaith dialogue, also known as interfaith cooperation * Interfai ...

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 antisemitism, tolerance educati ...

. He holds the Sydney M. Irmas Adjunct Chair in

Jewish Law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

and

Ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

Loyola Law School Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Jesuit 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 the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

, Adlerstein was quoted in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' 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 (, ), 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 likelihood of the Bible code a ...

" 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 nonr ...

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 group ...

Personal life

Adlerstein currently resides in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

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 f ...

)
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 Rabbis from Los Angeles Orthodox rabbis from New York City 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American rabbis Date of birth missing (living people)