Michael Schudrich
Encyclopedia
Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...
of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. He is the oldest of four children of Rabbi David Schudrich and Doris Goldfarb Schudrich.
Biography
Born in New York City, Schudrich lived in Patchogue, New YorkPatchogue, New York
-Notable citizens:* Franc D'Ambrosio, Broadway Actor, best known for being the longest running Phantom in Phantom of the Opera. Graduated Pat-Med HS 1981* Michael Fagan, professional bowler...
, where his father served as a pulpit 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...
. His grandparents emigrated to the United States from Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Baligród
Baligród
Baligród is a village in Lesko County, in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of south-eastern Poland. It is also the seat of the municipality called Gmina Baligród. Location: 49°21' N 22°17' E...
, before World War II. His brother, Nathaniel Schudrich, is the cantor at the Tifereth Israel synagoguge in New Bedford, MA.
Educated in Jewish day schools in the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
area, Schudrich graduated from Stony Brook University in 1977 with a Religious Studies major and received an MA in History 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 1982. He received Conservative smicha (rabbinical ordination) from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
The Jewish Theological Seminary of America is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.JTS operates five schools: Albert A...
and later, an Orthodox smicha through 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...
from Rabbi Moshe Tendler. He served as rabbi of the Jewish Community of Japan from 1983 to 1989.
After leading Jewish groups on numerous trips to Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, Schudrich began working for the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation and resided in Warsaw, Poland, from 1992 to 1998.
He returned to Poland in June 2000 as Rabbi of Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
and Łódź, and in December 2004 was appointed Chief Rabbi of Poland.
Schudrich has played a central role in the "Jewish Renaissance" in Poland.
Schudrich is a member of the Rabbinical Council of America
Rabbinical Council of America
The Rabbinical Council of America is one of the world's largest organizations of Orthodox rabbis; it is affiliated with The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, more commonly known as the Orthodox Union, or OU...
and the Conference of European Rabbis
Conference of European Rabbis
The Conference of European Rabbis is the primary Orthodox rabbinical alliance in Europe. It was founded in 1956 on the initiative of British Chief Rabbi Sir Israel Brodie, and its current executive director is Aba Dunner...
. In Kashrut
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
he cooperates with the Orthodox Union
Orthodox Union
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America , more popularly known as the Orthodox Union , is one of the oldest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. It is best known for its kosher food preparation supervision service...
, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel
Chief Rabbinate of Israel
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel is recognized by law as the supreme halakhic and spiritual authority for the Jewish people in Israel. The Chief Rabbinate Council assists the two chief rabbis, who alternate in its presidency. It has legal and administrative authority to organize religious...
, the Chicago Rabbinical Council
Chicago Rabbinical Council
The Chicago Rabbinical Council is the largest regional Orthodox rabbinical organization in America, located in Chicago, Illinois. The cRc is a not-for-profit offering a wide variety of Jewish services including kosher product supervision and kosher certification...
(CRC) and other Kashrut
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
organizations. Schudrich has been a Polish citizen since November 3, 2005, and now holds both American and Polish citizenship.
On May 27, 2006, Schudrich was attacked in central Warsaw by a 33-year-old Polish neo-Nazi, who confessed to assaulting the Jewish leader with what appeared to be pepper spray. According to the police, the perpetrator had ties to "Nazi organizations" and a history of football-related hooliganism.
Rabbi Schudrich had been invited to travel on the aircraft that crashed on 10 April 2010
2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash
The 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash occurred on 10 April 2010, when a Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft of the Polish Air Force crashed near the city of Smolensk, Russia, killing all 96 people on board...
, killing 96 people including the Polish president. He refused as it would have violated the Jewish Sabbath
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...
, a decision which saved his life.
Conversions controversy
In May 2006 an Israeli newspaper accused Schudrich of participating in a conversionReligious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
where one of the participant rabbis, Haim Drukman
Haim Drukman
Haim Meir Drukman , born 15 November 1932) is an Israeli Orthodox Rabbi and former politician. Today he serves as Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr Etzion Yeshiva, the head of the Bnei Akiva Youth Movement and Center for Bnei Akiva Yeshivot.-Early life:...
, falsely signed his presence. This raised doubts on the Halachic validity of the whole procedure., In addition, according to the Vaad HaRabbonim LeInyonei Giyur, a committee founded by tha late Antwerp Rabbi Chaim Kreiswirth
Chaim Kreiswirth
Rabbi Chaim Kreiswirth was an Orthodox rabbi who served as the longtime Chief Rabbi of Congregation Machzikei Hadass Antwerp, Belgium...
to oversee the validity of conversions, Schudrich's graduation from the Jewish Theological Seminary—the flagship rabbinical school for the Conservative movement
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
-- and his heading a Conservative pulpit in Japan, disqualified him from presiding over conversions under Orthodox standards.
External links
- Warsaw's wounds: Poland’s chief rabbi symbolises a remarkable revival in Jewish life, The Economist, Feb 24th 2011