Shmuel Kamenetsky
Shmuel Kamenetsky is an American Haredi rabbi.
Kamenetsky is the co-founder and rosh yeshiva of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia. He is one of the most widely known living Haredi Litvish Jewish gedolim outside of Israel.Biography
Shmuel Kamenetsky was born in Tytuvėnai, Lithuania to Yaakov Kamenetsky, one of America's great Torah leaders. He attended Eitz Chaim Day Schools in Toronto, then studied at Ner Israel Rabbinical College under the tutelage of his father's cousin, Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman. He went on to study at Lakewood Yeshiva, becoming a primary student of Aharon Kotler, from whom he received rabbinic ordination.
In the mid-1950s, as part of the Lakewood Yeshiva's effort to establish out-of-town yeshivas, Kamenetsky and Dov Schwartzman were sent to found the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia. In 1955, Schwartzman departed to open his own yeshiva in Israel, and Kamenetsky called upon Elya Svei to serve as co-rosh yeshiva. This arrangement continued until Svei's death in March 2009.
Kamenetsky is a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel of America and serves on the rabbinical board of many organizations, including Chinuch Atzmai, Torah Umesorah, the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation, and the Association for Jewish Outreach Professionals. His opinion is frequently sought and quoted on current issues such as same-sex attraction, child molestation, obesity and dieting, smoking, and drinking alcohol to excess on Purim. His approbation is also sought for Torah books in English.
Kamenetsky is a supporter of the anti-vaccination movement, stating: "I see vaccinations as the problem... It's a hoax. Even the Salk vaccine is a hoax. It is just big business".Personal
Kamenetsky's wife, Temi, is the daughter of Modche Brooks, a hazzan. She grew up in the Boro Park and Williamsburg sections of Brooklyn, New York.
