Aharon Feldman - Biography

Aharon Feldman is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel (Ner Israel Rabbinical College) in Baltimore, Maryland. He has held this position since 2001.

He is the son of Rabbi Joseph H. Feldman (d. 1992), who was the last rabbi to formally serve as chief rabbi of Baltimore, Maryland. The Feldman family is a prominent rabbinic family. His elder brother Rabbi Emanuel Feldman is the former editor of Tradition and was a prominent pulpit rabbi in Atlanta, Georgia. His younger brother, Rabbi Joel Feldman, was the dean of Talmudical Academy of Baltimore.

A close disciple of Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Ruderman, the founder of Ner Yisroel, Feldman moved to Bnei Brak in his twenties and studied in the Kollel Chazon Ish under Rabbis Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky and Elazar Shach.

In 2005, he was one of 15 Jewish educators invited to an informal discussion on Jewish education in the White House's Roosevelt Room.

Public positions

In 1994, he spoke publicly against the actions of Baruch Goldstein saying that there could be "no justification", and describing the actions as "way beyond the pale".

Feldman was interviewed in the 2001 documentary film Trembling before G-d about young orthodox Jewish gay men.

In 2003, in response to a question from Gil Student, Feldman issued a ruling regarding Chabad messianists. He drew a distinction between what he terms the "meshichists" (those who believe the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson is the messiah) and the "elokists" (those who believe he was a part of God or God "clothed in a body"). He rules that it is forbidden to associate with elokists under any circumstances due to their heresy and they cannot be counted for a minyan. He rules it is also forbidden to support the meshichists in any way that lends credence to their messianic beliefs though they are not strictly heretics.

In 2005, he wrote a critique of Rabbi Natan Slifkin, upholding the 2004 ban issued against Slifkin's books.

Published works

Feldman has authored and translated (from Hebrew to English) several books dealing with Jewish law and life.

External links

• [1] Short Bio & Free MP3 Lectures by Harav Aaron Feldman

Citations