Rabbi Lichtenstein was born in Paris, France, but grew up in the United States, studied in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin under Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner as well as Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik. He earned a BA and semicha at Yeshiva University under Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, whose daughter, Tovah, he would later marry, and a PhD in English Literature at Harvard University, where he studied under Douglas Bush. After serving as Rosh Kollel at Yeshiva University for several years, Rabbi Lichtenstein answered Rabbi Yehuda Amital's request in 1971 to join him at the helm of Yeshivat Har Etzion, located in Gush Etzion, and moved to Jerusalem. He maintained a close connection to Yeshiva University as a Rosh Kollel for the in Jerusalem, an affiliate of Yeshiva University and its rabbinical school, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. In 2005, he and his wife moved to Alon Shvut, where Yeshivat Har Etzion is located. On January 4, 2006, Rabbi Yaaqov Medan and Rabbi Baruch Gigi were officially invested as co-roshei yeshiva alongside Rav Amital and Rav Lichtenstein, with an eye toward Rabbi Amital's intention to retire. On October 28, 2008, Rav Lichtenstein's eldest son, Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein, was officially invested as co-Rosh Yeshiva, simultaneous with Rav Amital's official retirement, this time with an eye toward Rav Aharon Lichtenstein's eventual plan to retire. He was committed to intensive and original Torah study and articulated a bold Jewish worldview embracing elements of modernity within the framework of a Torah life, reflecting the tradition of his teacher and father-in-law, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik in line with Centrist Orthodoxy. Lichtenstein was awarded the Israel Prize for Jewish Literature on Israeli Independence Day: May 6, 2014. He died on April 20, 2015. He was a source of inspiration for a wide circle of Jewry, for both his educational attainments and his intellectual and spiritual leadership. He was especially admired by many centrist Modern Orthodox leaders.
: Edited by Aviad Hacohen and Reuven Ziegler Maggid Books, 2016
Halakha and Humanism: Essays on the Thought and Scholarship of Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, by Yitzchak Blau, Alan Jotkowitz, Reuven Ziegler
: Edited by Joel B. Wolowelsky and Elka Weber Ktav, 2018
: Adapted and edited by Michael S. Berger and Reuven Ziegler Maggid Books, 2018
Based on Rabbi Lichtenstein's Talmud classes at Yeshivat Har Etzion, his students' notes have been edited and published as Shiurei Harav Aharon Lichtenstein on Tohorot, Zevahim, the eighth chapter of Bava Metzia, the third chapter of Bava Batra, the Ramban's pamphlet on Dinah DiGarmi, the first chapter of Pesahim, Masechet Horayot, and several critical chapters of Gittin.
