Yosef Eliyahu Henkin
Encyclopedia
Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin (1881–1973) was a prominent Orthodox
rabbi
in the United States
.
He was born in 1881 in Klimavichy, Belarus
, then in the Russian Empire
, and studied at the Slutzker Yeshiva under Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer
. He received rabbinical ordination (semichah) from Rabbi Meltzer, and he was also ordained by the Rabbi Yaakov Dovid Wilovsky
(the Ridvaz), Rabbi Boruch Ber Leibowitz and Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein
, the Aruch HaShulchan
. After serving as rabbi in a number of Russian towns, he emigrated to America in 1922. In 1925 he became the director of Ezras Torah, which provided assistance to scholars. He served in that capacity until his death.
Under his guidance, and following his decisions, Ezras Torah published an annual calendar (luach) listing the synagogue and liturgical customs for each day, specifying the specific practice of that day. Most traditional non-chassidic synagogues in North America followed the decisions of Rabbi Henkin as their baseline.
He had two sons: Louis Henkin
, legal academician and writer, and Rabbi Hillel Henkin, educator in Connecticut. His grandson is Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin, an Orthodox
rabbi
in Israel
. Many of Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin's opinions are only known through the responsa
of his grandson.
marriage as a form of common law marriage requiring a Jewish divorce (get
).
He was opposed to the practice seen in many yeshivas and synagogues of pausing in the middle of the Rosh Hashanah
services for kiddush
and refreshments before shofar
-blowing. (His stance is defended in his grandson's responsa.)
If a Jewish storekeeper completed a form to sell his chametz
to a non-Jew before Passover
, yet he kept his store open, selling chametz
on Passover
and keeping the profits for himself, Rabbi Henkin felt that this proved the "Chametz sale" to be a fraud
and therefore invalid. (Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
, on the other hand, believed the sale to still be valid.)
Rabbi Henkin felt that in a case where tunafish are being caught, it is halachically permissible to check only a few of each batch and not each individual fish; Rabbi Feinstein, on the other hand, felt that each fish needed to be checked for kosher markings that it was in fact, a tunafish and not some other fish. This is a particularly interesting heiter (permission) since Rav Henkin did not allow for the concept of Cholov Stam; i.e., milk which the government supervises as a form of kosher; making canned tuna (which is boiled in milk to give it more weight) using in the same product both the heiter of Cholov Stam and tunafish, which means that neither Rabbi Henkin nor Rabbi Feinstein would eat the product, as made.
Rabbi Henkin was involved in all the discussions about the Manhattan eruv, and on March 15, 1960, he signed on a Statement of the Vaad L’Maan Tikkun Eruvin B’Manhattan (Divrei Menachem, O.C. vol. 2 p. 10) that stated the need to investigate how to bring to fruition the plan for a Manhattan eruv.
On July 12, 1961, Rabbi Henkin wrote a letter stating that there was a sound basis to establish an eruv in Manhattan.(ibid., pp. 14–15; Hapardes 36th year, vol. 4, and Kisvei Hagriah Henkin, pp. 32–33). Yet, he wrote that until the eruv would receive the written support of most of the rabbanim of Manhattan, the permisison for the eruv would only be for times of great need.
The 1979 letter opposing the Flatbush eruv alleges that Rabbi Henkin signed the 1962 letter against the Manhattan eruv. Yet, his name is not on it, and it is on the 1960 letter in favor.
The prevailing view on this matter appears to be that of Rabbi Henkin's, which may be derived from the fact that as of June 2007, the East Side portion of the internal Manhattan Eruv was completed, offering an eruv within Manhattan to Orthodox Jews living on the East, Upper East, and Upper West Sides. Additionally, there are also two other eruvin in Manhattan's Washington Heights, a neighborhood that also once resisted the drive to establish them; one covering the Yeshiva University
area and another covering the Fort Washington area.
was established he declared the need to support its continued existence, and denounced those who tried to undermine it. In 1959 he wrote:
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
rabbi
Rabbi
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...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
He was born in 1881 in Klimavichy, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, then in the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, and studied at the Slutzker Yeshiva under Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer
Isser Zalman Meltzer
Isser Zalman Meltzer, , was a famous Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi, rosh yeshiva and posek. He is also known as the "Even HaEzel" - the title of his commentary on Rambam's Mishne Torah....
. He received rabbinical ordination (semichah) from Rabbi Meltzer, and he was also ordained by the Rabbi Yaakov Dovid Wilovsky
Yaakov Dovid Wilovsky
Rabbi Yaakov Dovid Wilovsky , known by the acronym Ridvaz or Ridbaz, was a renowned rabbi, Talmudic commentator and educator.-Biography:...
(the Ridvaz), Rabbi Boruch Ber Leibowitz and Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein
Yechiel Michel Epstein
Yechiel Michel Epstein , often called "the Aruch ha-Shulchan" , was a Rabbi and posek in Lithuania...
, the Aruch HaShulchan
Aruch HaShulchan
Aruch HaShulchan is a chapter-by-chapter restatement of the Shulchan Arukh...
. After serving as rabbi in a number of Russian towns, he emigrated to America in 1922. In 1925 he became the director of Ezras Torah, which provided assistance to scholars. He served in that capacity until his death.
Under his guidance, and following his decisions, Ezras Torah published an annual calendar (luach) listing the synagogue and liturgical customs for each day, specifying the specific practice of that day. Most traditional non-chassidic synagogues in North America followed the decisions of Rabbi Henkin as their baseline.
He had two sons: Louis Henkin
Louis Henkin
Louis Henkin , widely considered one of the most influential contemporary scholars of international law and the foreign policy of the United States, was a former president of the American Society of International Law and of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy and University...
, legal academician and writer, and Rabbi Hillel Henkin, educator in Connecticut. His grandson is Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin, an Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
rabbi
Rabbi
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...
in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Many of Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin's opinions are only known through the responsa
Responsa
Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them.-In the Roman Empire:Roman law recognised responsa prudentium, i.e...
of his grandson.
Halachic Positions
Rabbi Henkin considered ReformReform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
marriage as a form of common law marriage requiring a Jewish divorce (get
Get (divorce document)
A is a divorce document, which according to Jewish Law, must be presented by a husband to his wife to effect their divorce. The essential text of the is quite short: "You are hereby permitted to all men," i.e., the wife is no longer a married woman, and the laws of adultery no longer apply...
).
He was opposed to the practice seen in many yeshivas and synagogues of pausing in the middle of the Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...
services for kiddush
Kiddush
Kiddush , literally, "sanctification," is a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays.-Significance:...
and refreshments before shofar
Shofar
A shofar is a horn, traditionally that of a ram, used for Jewish religious purposes. Shofar-blowing is incorporated in synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.Shofar come in a variety of sizes.- Bible and rabbinic literature :...
-blowing. (His stance is defended in his grandson's responsa.)
If a Jewish storekeeper completed a form to sell his chametz
Chametz
Chametz, also Chometz, and other spellings transliterated from , are leavened foods that are forbidden on the Jewish holiday of Passover. According to Jewish law, Jews may not own, eat or benefit from chametz during Passover...
to a non-Jew before Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
, yet he kept his store open, selling chametz
Chametz
Chametz, also Chometz, and other spellings transliterated from , are leavened foods that are forbidden on the Jewish holiday of Passover. According to Jewish law, Jews may not own, eat or benefit from chametz during Passover...
on Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
and keeping the profits for himself, Rabbi Henkin felt that this proved the "Chametz sale" to be a fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
and therefore invalid. (Rabbi 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...
, on the other hand, believed the sale to still be valid.)
Rabbi Henkin felt that in a case where tunafish are being caught, it is halachically permissible to check only a few of each batch and not each individual fish; Rabbi Feinstein, on the other hand, felt that each fish needed to be checked for kosher markings that it was in fact, a tunafish and not some other fish. This is a particularly interesting heiter (permission) since Rav Henkin did not allow for the concept of Cholov Stam; i.e., milk which the government supervises as a form of kosher; making canned tuna (which is boiled in milk to give it more weight) using in the same product both the heiter of Cholov Stam and tunafish, which means that neither Rabbi Henkin nor Rabbi Feinstein would eat the product, as made.
The New York Eruv
In 1936, Rabbi Henkin declared that Rabbi Yehoshua Seigel's 1905 Manhattan eruv could no longer be relied on because he had only acquired permission for ten years. However, Rabbi Henkin's main argument why the eruv could no longer be relied on was because of the construction of bridges that crossed Manhattan’s waterfront (Luach HaYovel Shel Ezras Torah, p. 62). This letter was later reprinted in Edus L’Yisroel, 1949 (p. 151).Rabbi Henkin was involved in all the discussions about the Manhattan eruv, and on March 15, 1960, he signed on a Statement of the Vaad L’Maan Tikkun Eruvin B’Manhattan (Divrei Menachem, O.C. vol. 2 p. 10) that stated the need to investigate how to bring to fruition the plan for a Manhattan eruv.
On July 12, 1961, Rabbi Henkin wrote a letter stating that there was a sound basis to establish an eruv in Manhattan.(ibid., pp. 14–15; Hapardes 36th year, vol. 4, and Kisvei Hagriah Henkin, pp. 32–33). Yet, he wrote that until the eruv would receive the written support of most of the rabbanim of Manhattan, the permisison for the eruv would only be for times of great need.
The 1979 letter opposing the Flatbush eruv alleges that Rabbi Henkin signed the 1962 letter against the Manhattan eruv. Yet, his name is not on it, and it is on the 1960 letter in favor.
The prevailing view on this matter appears to be that of Rabbi Henkin's, which may be derived from the fact that as of June 2007, the East Side portion of the internal Manhattan Eruv was completed, offering an eruv within Manhattan to Orthodox Jews living on the East, Upper East, and Upper West Sides. Additionally, there are also two other eruvin in Manhattan's Washington Heights, a neighborhood that also once resisted the drive to establish them; one covering the 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...
area and another covering the Fort Washington area.
Position on Israel
Henkin vigorously opposed Zionism, but once the State of IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
was established he declared the need to support its continued existence, and denounced those who tried to undermine it. In 1959 he wrote:
- I was shocked to read in Chomoteinu (Cheshvan 5719) the slanderous notion that we are required to give our lives to frustrate and resist the efforts of the State of Israel in its struggle against those who would rise up against them. This was stated as a psak din based on "Israel is restricted from rebelling against the nations." (Ketubot 111a) [...] but once done, though the admonition was ignored, we are required to support them with mesirut nefesh. [...] Once the state was declared, anyone who plays into the hands of the nations of the world even where there is no imminent danger, is clearly an informer and pursuer (rodef). All the more when there is danger to destruction of life in so doing. [...] Those essays I wrote before the advent of the state (many of which have been reprinted in my book Leiv Ivra) will testify to the fact that I am not a supporter of the government, and I objected to the entire idea of a state. (It is for this reason I am not a member of Agudah so that I not be judged incorrectly as one who agreed with their position in the founding of the state.) But now it is our obligation that we all support the state in the face of its external enemies and then go on to guide it in the ways of Torah.
External links
- http://www.tzemachdovid.org/gedolim/jo/tpersonality/ravhenkin.html
- Letter on Israel
- http://eruvonline.blogspot.com/2006/07/part-1-rav-eliyahu-henkin-ztl-and-eruv.html
- http://eruvonline.blogspot.com/2006/10/part-2-rav-eliyahu-henkin-ztl-and-eruv.html