J. David Bleich
Encyclopedia
J. David Bleich (born 24 August 1936, Tarrytown, New York
) is an authority on Jewish law
and ethics, including Jewish medical ethics
. He is rabbi of Cong. B'nei Jehuda. He is a professor of Talmud
(rosh yeshiva
) at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
, an affiliate of Yeshiva University
, as well as head of its postgraduate institute for the study of Talmudic jurisprudence and family law. At Yeshiva University, he holds the Herbert and Florence Tenzer Chair in Jewish Law and Ethics and also teaches at the Cardozo Law School. He is married to Dr. Judith Bleich
, a historian of 19th-century European Jewry.
Bleich brings an Orthodox perspective to governmental deliberations on bioethics
. For example, in 1988 he served on the NIH Human Fetal Tissue Transplantation Research Panel and testified before Congress on the Pain Relief Promotion Act. In 1984, New York's Mario Cuomo
appointed Bleich to the Governor’s Commission on Life and the Law.
in 1960, a master's degree from Columbia University
in 1968, and a PhD from New York University
in 1974.
Bleich is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, a postdoctoral fellow at the Hastings Center
, and fellow of the Academy of Jewish Philosophy. He received rabbinic ordination from Rabbis Moshe Feinstein
and Mendel Zaks
in 1957.
Bleich was a close student of the late Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky
, one of America's leading rabbis and the rosh yeshiva
(head) of Yeshiva Torah Vodaas (a/k/a Mesivta Torah Vodaath) where Rabbi Bleich learned. In R. Moshe Feinstein's Iggerot Mosheh, Yoreh De'ah I, no. 67, Feinstein addresses Bleich as "my friend".
); With Perfect Faith: Foundations of Jewish Belief; Time of Death in Jewish Law; and Judaism and Healing. He has written a book about the blessing on the sun (Bircas Hachamah, updated in 2009: ISBN 9780899061757). In Hebrew, he has published Benetivot Hahalakhah (three volumes). His Ph.D. thesis is Providence in the late medieval Jewish philosophy (NYU, 1974). He has written extensively on the applications of Jewish law to contemporary social issues and on the interface of Jewish law and the American legal system. He serves as the long-standing contributor of the survey of halakhic literature for Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought
.
(Jewish spiritual leader) of the Yorkville Synagogue, located in Manhattan
for over forty-five years. He teaches Talmud classes on Shabbat
. He also teaches Jewish halakhic or philosophical issues in a program every other Sabbath. The topic usually is related to the subject matter of the weekly Torah portion.
Tarrytown, New York
Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line...
) is an authority on Jewish law
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
and ethics, including Jewish medical ethics
Jewish medical ethics
Jewish medical ethics is a modern scholarly and clinical approach to medical ethics that draws upon Jewish thought and teachings. Pioneered by Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits in the 1950s, Jewish medical ethics centers mainly around an applied ethics drawing upon traditional rabbinic law...
. He is rabbi of Cong. B'nei Jehuda. He is a professor of Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
(rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
) at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary , or Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University, located in Washington Heights, New York. It is named after Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, who died the year it was founded, 1896...
, an affiliate of Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
, as well as head of its postgraduate institute for the study of Talmudic jurisprudence and family law. At Yeshiva University, he holds the Herbert and Florence Tenzer Chair in Jewish Law and Ethics and also teaches at the Cardozo Law School. He is married to Dr. Judith Bleich
Judith Bleich
Judith Bleich is a professor of Judaic studies at Touro College in Manhattan. She specializes in the nineteenth-century development of Reform and neo-Orthodoxy in the wake of the enlightenment and emancipation, and has written extensively on modern Jewish history...
, a historian of 19th-century European Jewry.
Bleich brings an Orthodox perspective to governmental deliberations on bioethics
Bioethics
Bioethics is the study of controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, and philosophy....
. For example, in 1988 he served on the NIH Human Fetal Tissue Transplantation Research Panel and testified before Congress on the Pain Relief Promotion Act. In 1984, New York's Mario Cuomo
Mario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo served as the 52nd Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994, and is the father of Andrew Cuomo, the current governor of New York.-Early life:...
appointed Bleich to the Governor’s Commission on Life and the Law.
Early life and education
Bleich is the older of two sons of Rabbi Manning H. Bleich and his wife Beatrice. He attended public elementary school and received private tutoring on Jewish subjects. From 1958–1962 he attended Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim of Radun. He received a bachelor's degree from Brooklyn CollegeBrooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
in 1960, a master's degree from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1968, and a PhD from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
in 1974.
Bleich is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, a postdoctoral fellow at the Hastings Center
Hastings Center
The Hastings Center, founded in 1969, is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit bioethics research institute based in the United States. It is dedicated to the examination of essential questions in health care, biotechnology, and the environment...
, and fellow of the Academy of Jewish Philosophy. He received rabbinic ordination from Rabbis Moshe Feinstein
Moshe Feinstein
Moshe Feinstein was a Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi, scholar and posek , who was world-renowned for his expertise in Halakha and was regarded by many as the de facto supreme halakhic authority for Orthodox Jewry of North America during his lifetime...
and Mendel Zaks
Mendel Zaks
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Yosef Zaks is best known for being the Rosh Yeshiva in Raduń Yeshiva and being the son-in-law to Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, the Chofetz Chaim.Rabbi Zaks was born in Siluva...
in 1957.
Bleich was a close student of the late Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky
Yaakov Kamenetsky
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky , was a prominent rosh yeshiva, posek and Talmudist in the post-World War II American Jewish community....
, one of America's leading rabbis and the rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
(head) of Yeshiva Torah Vodaas (a/k/a Mesivta Torah Vodaath) where Rabbi Bleich learned. In R. Moshe Feinstein's Iggerot Mosheh, Yoreh De'ah I, no. 67, Feinstein addresses Bleich as "my friend".
Publications
Bleich is the author of Contemporary Halakhic Problems (five volumes); Bioethical Dilemmas: A Jewish Perspective (two volumes); Jewish Bioethics (a collection of essays, which he co-edited with Fred RosnerFred Rosner
Fred Rosner is Assistant Dean and professor of medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine,...
); With Perfect Faith: Foundations of Jewish Belief; Time of Death in Jewish Law; and Judaism and Healing. He has written a book about the blessing on the sun (Bircas Hachamah, updated in 2009: ISBN 9780899061757). In Hebrew, he has published Benetivot Hahalakhah (three volumes). His Ph.D. thesis is Providence in the late medieval Jewish philosophy (NYU, 1974). He has written extensively on the applications of Jewish law to contemporary social issues and on the interface of Jewish law and the American legal system. He serves as the long-standing contributor of the survey of halakhic literature for Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought
Tradition (journal)
Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought is a quarterly Orthodox academic journal published by the Rabbinical Council of America in association with Yeshiva University in New York City...
.
Yeshiva University
Bleich holds the position of rosh kollel for the Yadin Yadin Kollel (Institute for the Study of Jewish Monetary Law) in Yeshiva University. Additionally, he gives a Chullin/Yoreh Deah course (Jewish dietary laws) in RIETS, as well as a few courses in Jewish Philosophy in IBC.The Yorkville Synagogue
Bleich has been the rabbiRabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
(Jewish spiritual leader) of the Yorkville Synagogue, located in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
for over forty-five years. He teaches Talmud classes on Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
. He also teaches Jewish halakhic or philosophical issues in a program every other Sabbath. The topic usually is related to the subject matter of the weekly Torah portion.
External links
- Rabbi Bleich's recorded Torah lectures
- Articles by J. David Bleich on the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner
- Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
- Yorkville Synagogue