Shea Hecht
Encyclopedia
Shea Hecht is the chairman of the board of the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education http://www.ncfje.org/ and a leading Chabad
rabbi
. He is the son of the late Rabbi Jacob J. Hecht
, one of the closest confidants of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Grand Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
.
He was educated in the Lubavitch Yeshiva Central School System, where he received his rabbinic ordination.
He rose to prominence in the 1970s after he began a program that sought to remove and educate Jewish youths away from various cults. This inspired his autobiography Confessions of a Jewish Cult Buster.http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Jewish-Cultbuster-Shea-Hecht/dp/0318185318
As a community leader during the violent Crown Heights riot
in 1991, Hecht worked across racial barriers in the pursuit of a harmonious side-by-side existence between the Hasidic and African-American communities.http://www.answers.com/topic/fires-in-the-mirror-play-2 Along with Edison Jackson, he co-chaired the Crown Heights Coalition after its inception.http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewarticle/c343_a10086/News/New_York/Neighborhoods.htmlhttp://www.nydailynews.com/archives/ny_local/2001/08/23/2001-08-23_beep_honor_peace_coalition_c.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/09/opinion/l-crown-heights-coalition-has-done-much-to-heal-community-126934.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/19/nyregion/report-finds-an-embattled-crown-hts.html?n=Top/News/Health/Diseases,%20Conditions,%20and%20Health%20Topics/AIDS&pagewanted=2 For his leadership and service during the riots, he received the Buffalo Soldier Award.http://www.jedavis-stopviolence.org/awards.html
Hecht was appointed by New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani
as Commissioner of Human Rights http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/28/nyregion/giuliani-sneers-and-even-friends-bridle.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all and as member of the Police Task Force Committee.http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/28/nyregion/giuliani-sneers-and-even-friends-bridle.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=allhttp://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/27/nyregion/giuliani-dismisses-police-proposals-by-his-task-force.html?pagewanted=all Additionally, in 1998, Mayor Giuliani appointed Hecht to the Committee for Proper Art in New York City.http://www.loopentertainment.net/speakers.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/31/nyregion/giuliani-makes-choices-for-a-decency-panel-on-art.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Currently, he is a dean at Hadar Hatorah
Yeshiva in Brooklyn, NY, a yeshiva dedicated to fostering the Baal Teshuvah movement, as well as a faculty member of the Ivy League Torah Study Program.http://iltsp.org/FacultyFounder.asp/ He also served as the spiritual leader of the Seaview Jewish Center in Canarsie, Brooklyn.
in New York. Hecht was also featured as host alongside Felipe Luciano
on the afternoon drive show on WWRL.http://news.rutgers.edu/medrel/news-releases/2004/01/wwrl-1600-ams-mornin-20040128http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword_cdo/kid/8243/jewish/Hecht-Shea.htm, and later moved to the morning drive show alongside Karen Hunter. He currently hosts the Dov Hikind show once a month on Sat night.
He writes a weekly column that has been printed in many papers across the world such as JPost http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/686834991.html?dids=686834991:686834991&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Sep+1%2C+2004&author=SHEA+HECHT&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=15&desc=Where+boys+and+girls+don%27t+mix Jewish press http://www.jewishpress.com/pageroute.do/21048http://www.jewishpress.com/pageroute.do/16070 GOP USA http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/guest/2008/rsh_0905.shtml and Israel National news.http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Author.aspx/571
's Rabbi.http://www.nypost.com/seven/08102007/sports/king_holds_court_as_only_he_can_sports_lenn_robbins.htmhttp://www.observer.com/node/44313http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/gossip/1997/08/22/1997-08-22_bratton_says_maple_remains_t.htmlhttp://www.eastsideboxing.com/index.php?m=200711 As a result of their friendship, King donated one million dollars to N.C.F.J.E.
Hecht was also publicly seen at the trial of King in New York city.http://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/30/sports/boxing-prosecutor-calls-king-a-liar-who-defrauded-an-insurer.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FSubjects%2FB%2FBoxing
King also marched alongside Hecht in Crown Heights to further Jewish and Black relations.http://connection.ebscohost.com/content/article/1032824445.html;jsessionid=1B027A12DE7E34009D242F3C9555EAA9.ehctc1
Chabad
Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
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...
. He is the son of the late Rabbi Jacob J. Hecht
Jacob J. Hecht
Rabbi Jacob J. Hecht, known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe's right hand man, was a leading Chabad rabbi, educator, writer and radio commentator.- Achievements :...
, one of the closest confidants of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Grand Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson , known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or just the Rebbe among his followers, was a prominent Hasidic rabbi who was the seventh and last Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. He was fifth in a direct paternal line to the third Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Menachem Mendel...
.
Biography
Hecht is a fifth generation New Yorker, born in Brooklyn. Born to Rabbi J.J. & Chavah Hecht he is one of twelve children.He was educated in the Lubavitch Yeshiva Central School System, where he received his rabbinic ordination.
He rose to prominence in the 1970s after he began a program that sought to remove and educate Jewish youths away from various cults. This inspired his autobiography Confessions of a Jewish Cult Buster.http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Jewish-Cultbuster-Shea-Hecht/dp/0318185318
As a community leader during the violent Crown Heights riot
Crown Heights riot
The Crown Heights Riot was a three-day riot in the United States that occurred August 19–21, 1991. It took place in the Crown Heights neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn....
in 1991, Hecht worked across racial barriers in the pursuit of a harmonious side-by-side existence between the Hasidic and African-American communities.http://www.answers.com/topic/fires-in-the-mirror-play-2 Along with Edison Jackson, he co-chaired the Crown Heights Coalition after its inception.http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewarticle/c343_a10086/News/New_York/Neighborhoods.htmlhttp://www.nydailynews.com/archives/ny_local/2001/08/23/2001-08-23_beep_honor_peace_coalition_c.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/09/opinion/l-crown-heights-coalition-has-done-much-to-heal-community-126934.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/19/nyregion/report-finds-an-embattled-crown-hts.html?n=Top/News/Health/Diseases,%20Conditions,%20and%20Health%20Topics/AIDS&pagewanted=2 For his leadership and service during the riots, he received the Buffalo Soldier Award.http://www.jedavis-stopviolence.org/awards.html
Hecht was appointed by New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
as Commissioner of Human Rights http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/28/nyregion/giuliani-sneers-and-even-friends-bridle.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all and as member of the Police Task Force Committee.http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/28/nyregion/giuliani-sneers-and-even-friends-bridle.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=allhttp://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/27/nyregion/giuliani-dismisses-police-proposals-by-his-task-force.html?pagewanted=all Additionally, in 1998, Mayor Giuliani appointed Hecht to the Committee for Proper Art in New York City.http://www.loopentertainment.net/speakers.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/31/nyregion/giuliani-makes-choices-for-a-decency-panel-on-art.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Currently, he is a dean at Hadar Hatorah
Hadar Hatorah
Yeshiva Hadar Hatorah is a Chabad men's yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York. It is the world's first yeshiva for baali teshuva.-History:The yeshiva was founded in 1962 by Rabbi Yisroel Jacobson, a Chabad activist, to accommodate baalei teshuva interested in full-time study in a traditional yeshiva...
Yeshiva in Brooklyn, NY, a yeshiva dedicated to fostering the Baal Teshuvah movement, as well as a faculty member of the Ivy League Torah Study Program.http://iltsp.org/FacultyFounder.asp/ He also served as the spiritual leader of the Seaview Jewish Center in Canarsie, Brooklyn.
Radio & press
After his father died, Hecht assumed the role of host of the "Shema Yisroel" radio program, a weekly one-hour show that focused on religion broadcast on WEVDWEVD
The call letters WEVD are associated with the following:* WWRV AM 1330 in New York City, which held the WEVD call sign until 1981* WSKQ-FM 97.9 in New York City, which held the WEVD-FM call sign from 1952 to 1989...
in New York. Hecht was also featured as host alongside Felipe Luciano
Felipe Luciano
Felipe Luciano is an American poet, community activist, journalist, media personality, and politician. He is of Puerto Rican heritage....
on the afternoon drive show on WWRL.http://news.rutgers.edu/medrel/news-releases/2004/01/wwrl-1600-ams-mornin-20040128http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword_cdo/kid/8243/jewish/Hecht-Shea.htm, and later moved to the morning drive show alongside Karen Hunter. He currently hosts the Dov Hikind show once a month on Sat night.
He writes a weekly column that has been printed in many papers across the world such as JPost http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/686834991.html?dids=686834991:686834991&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Sep+1%2C+2004&author=SHEA+HECHT&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=15&desc=Where+boys+and+girls+don%27t+mix Jewish press http://www.jewishpress.com/pageroute.do/21048http://www.jewishpress.com/pageroute.do/16070 GOP USA http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/guest/2008/rsh_0905.shtml and Israel National news.http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Author.aspx/571
Political views
He is a strong supporter of school vouchers.http://www.njjewishnews.com/njjn.com/071008/njWOrangeRally.htmlhttp://www.crownheights.ch/blog/blog.php?bid=6130Don King
Hecht is also known as Don KingDon King
Donald "Don" King is an American boxing promoter particularly known for his hairstyle and flamboyant personality. His career highlights include promoting "The Rumble in the Jungle" and the "Thrilla in Manila". He also had a long association with Mike Tyson...
's Rabbi.http://www.nypost.com/seven/08102007/sports/king_holds_court_as_only_he_can_sports_lenn_robbins.htmhttp://www.observer.com/node/44313http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/gossip/1997/08/22/1997-08-22_bratton_says_maple_remains_t.htmlhttp://www.eastsideboxing.com/index.php?m=200711 As a result of their friendship, King donated one million dollars to N.C.F.J.E.
Hecht was also publicly seen at the trial of King in New York city.http://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/30/sports/boxing-prosecutor-calls-king-a-liar-who-defrauded-an-insurer.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FSubjects%2FB%2FBoxing
King also marched alongside Hecht in Crown Heights to further Jewish and Black relations.http://connection.ebscohost.com/content/article/1032824445.html;jsessionid=1B027A12DE7E34009D242F3C9555EAA9.ehctc1