Hershel Schachter
| Rabbi Hershel Schachter | |
|---|---|
| Position | Rosh Yeshiva |
| Yeshiva | RIETS |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
July 28, 1941 Scranton, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | American |
| Denomination | Orthodox |
| Residence | Washington Heights, Manhattan |
| Alma mater | Yeshiva University |
Hershel Schachter (born July 28, 1941) is a rabbi and rosh yeshiva at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), Yeshiva University, in New York City, and the son of the late Rabbi Melech Schachter, who was also a rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University. A noted Talmudic scholar and a prominent posek, he is also a halakhic advisor for the kashrut division of the Orthodox Union.
Schachter became an assistant to Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik at the age of 22. Schachter earned a B.A. from Yeshiva College and an M.A. in Hebrew Literature from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies in 1967.
After receiving rabbinic ordination in 1967 at the age of 26, Schachter became the youngest Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS, and was appointed rosh kollel, or dean of the kollel, in 1971.
As a posek, Schachter has made important and notable decisions in various areas of Jewish law. In the realm of medical halacha, Schachter does not allow doctors or medical students to work on the Sabbath unless they need to save a life. Also Schachter believes that the living status of a brain dead individual is a safek, a matter of doubt, and thus requires that all decisions be made with the same stringencies applied to all cases where life-and-death is in doubt. This, ipso facto, forbids the organ donations of brain dead individuals, by considering them as possibly still halachically alive, but also requires chalitzah in the case that a widow is left with only a brain dead child as well as a normal brother-in-law. Regarding monetary law and taxation, Schachter believes that a graduated system of income taxes is "fair and reasonable" and thus falls under the ægis of dina d'malchusa dina, the requirement to conform to the laws of the land, and thus everyone must pay taxes. Regarding other areas of religious law, Schachter holds that a woman is not allowed to serve as the president of a synagogue unless there is absolutely no other choice. Schachter is also the posek for the Yeshiva University eruv in Washington Heights, and is one of the most notable contemporary halachik authorities to allow for the implementation of an eruv in sections of Manhattan.
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