Biographies - Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot

Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot

Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot is Chair of the Tanakh and Jewish Thought departments, and a maggid shiur in Talmud at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, the new Open Orthodox Rabbinical School and Yeshiva in New York City. Until this past year he served as Judaic Studies curriculum coordinator at the Maayanot Yeshiva High School in Teaneck ,N.J. for six years and as director of the Talmud/Tanakh program at the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education in New York from 1998-2001. He previously taught at the Frisch Yeshiva High School for 8 years. R. Helfgot has served as Educational Consultant to the Orthodox Caucus Ethics Project and is on the Board of the Association of Modern Orthodox Schools, the Orthodox Forum, a modern Orthodox think tank that has produced eight scholarly volumes in the last decade, and on the plenum of the Orthodox Caucus. A graduate with a B.A. with honors in Philosophy from Yeshiva College, he went on to receive a Master’s degree in Education from the Azrieli Graduate School of Yeshiva University and ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University in 1989. He has studied extensively in Israel with outstanding scholars including the late Prof. Nehama Leibowitz z”l and Dr. Avigdor Shinan of the Hebrew University and has done extensive graduate work both here and in Israel in the areas of Bible and Midrash studies. In 1995, he was awarded a prestigious Jerusalem fellowship from the Mandel Institute, and spent the year in Jerusalem engaged in research and study in areas of Jewish education and school curriculum. He has authored numerous articles in areas of Jewish History and Thought, Bible, Halakha, Education, and contemporary issues in the Jewish community here and Israel. A close student of Rabbi Dr. Aharon Lichtenstein, leading Modern Orthodox halakhic and intellectual leader, he is currently co-editing two volumes of R. Lichtenstein’s Hebrew essays for publication, as well as a volume of letters written by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt”l for the Toras Ha-Rav foundation. R. Helfgot has just published a book of his halakhic essays Divrei Berakha U’Moed on the topics of the holidays and blessings in memory of his late father, Mr. Salomon D. Helfgot z”l. R. Helfgot has served as scholar in residence in various synagogues and community settings throughout the country and the world. He currently resides in New York City with his wife Rachel and two children Shlomo David and Ephraim Dov.