Yissocher Frand
Encyclopedia
Yissocher Frand is an American
Charedi Orthodox
rabbi
and author. He is a senior lecturer at Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, MD. Raised in Seattle, Washington
, he attended Ner Yisrael as a student and progressed to become a maggid shiur
(lecturer). He is well known within the Orthodox Jewish community as a skilled orator, and has given hundreds of invited lectures over the past decades.
Frand is best known for his popular parsha shiurim (lectures). His weekly lectures, started in the late 1980s, are hosted live at the Agudath Yisrael synagogue in Baltimore, and are broadcast all over the world by the Torah Conferencing Network in synagogues or Jewish community centers in over 70 cities in North America, Europe, Israel, South Africa, and Australia. The wide distribution of his lectures make them one of the best attended Jewish lectures in the world. Building on points from the weekly Torah reading, his lectures generally follow a particular style. He typically addresses a matter of halakha
/Jewish law for the bulk of his lecture, while reserving the closing portion for a midrash
ic/homiletic talk which evinces an ethical or religious character. The Yad Yechiel Institute was founded to distribute audio recordings of Rabbi Frand's lectures, and they are sold over the Internet and in Jewish bookstores everywhere. Project Genesis
publishes the midrashic portions of his weekly talks online, and the distribution of these transcriptions via email have added to his popularity. Revised versions of these shiurim have been collected and republished in book form. Rabbi Frand also gives a popular yearly lecture before Yom Kippur
known as his annual "Teshuva Drasha."
He is a board member and frequent speaker on behalf of the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation
, an organization dedicated to educating the Jewish public on the laws of lashon hara
(harmful speech). Rabbi Frand has also been a featured speaker multiple times at the Siyum HaShas
, held once every seven-and-a-half years, the past few having taken place before sold-out crowds at major sporting venues in the New York
metropolitan area.
In June 1993, a man entered the Ner Yisroel Beis Medrash and approached Rabbi Frand, while holding a brown bag. Upon reaching Rabbi Frand, he suddenly pulled out a kitchen knife and stabbed the Rabbi. A melee ensued, with students rushing to Frand's defense. Josh Adler, a Ner Yisroel student was injured by the assailant, as he attempted to defend Rabbi Frand. Eventually it emerged that the man was a mentally deranged individual, who had recently been released from a State institution.
Public Relations Director- Efraim Acker
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Charedi Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
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...
and author. He is a senior lecturer at Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, MD. Raised in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, he attended Ner Yisrael as a student and progressed to become a maggid shiur
Maggid shiur
The term Maggid Shiur literarly translates from Hebrew to mean "sayer of Shiur".This term is used to refer to the Rabbi that lectures in a Yeshiva or Kollel.A Maggid Shiur is generally a Rabbi who lectures on advanced and in-depth Talmudic studies....
(lecturer). He is well known within the Orthodox Jewish community as a skilled orator, and has given hundreds of invited lectures over the past decades.
Frand is best known for his popular parsha shiurim (lectures). His weekly lectures, started in the late 1980s, are hosted live at the Agudath Yisrael synagogue in Baltimore, and are broadcast all over the world by the Torah Conferencing Network in synagogues or Jewish community centers in over 70 cities in North America, Europe, Israel, South Africa, and Australia. The wide distribution of his lectures make them one of the best attended Jewish lectures in the world. Building on points from the weekly Torah reading, his lectures generally follow a particular style. He typically addresses a matter of halakha
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
/Jewish law for the bulk of his lecture, while reserving the closing portion for a midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
ic/homiletic talk which evinces an ethical or religious character. The Yad Yechiel Institute was founded to distribute audio recordings of Rabbi Frand's lectures, and they are sold over the Internet and in Jewish bookstores everywhere. Project Genesis
Project Genesis (organization)
Project Genesis is an Orthodox Jewish outreach organization based in Baltimore, Maryland and created by Rabbi Yaakov Menken in 1993 to further the goals of the Baal teshuva movement....
publishes the midrashic portions of his weekly talks online, and the distribution of these transcriptions via email have added to his popularity. Revised versions of these shiurim have been collected and republished in book form. Rabbi Frand also gives a popular yearly lecture before Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
known as his annual "Teshuva Drasha."
He is a board member and frequent speaker on behalf of the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation
Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation
The Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation is a non-profit Orthodox Jewish organization based in Monsey, New York, United States, dedicated to spreading the teachings of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan who was known as the Chofetz Chaim based on his work of Jewish ethics of the same name dealing with the...
, an organization dedicated to educating the Jewish public on the laws of lashon hara
Lashon hara
The Hebrew term lashon hara is a term for gossip. It also refers to the prohibition in Jewish Law of telling gossip....
(harmful speech). Rabbi Frand has also been a featured speaker multiple times at the Siyum HaShas
Siyum hashas
Siyum HaShas is the celebration of the completion of the Daf Yomi program, a seven-and-a-half-year cycle of learning the oral Torah and its commentaries, , in which each of the 2,711 pages of the Babylonian Talmud are covered in sequence.-Background:The program was...
, held once every seven-and-a-half years, the past few having taken place before sold-out crowds at major sporting venues in the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
metropolitan area.
In June 1993, a man entered the Ner Yisroel Beis Medrash and approached Rabbi Frand, while holding a brown bag. Upon reaching Rabbi Frand, he suddenly pulled out a kitchen knife and stabbed the Rabbi. A melee ensued, with students rushing to Frand's defense. Josh Adler, a Ner Yisroel student was injured by the assailant, as he attempted to defend Rabbi Frand. Eventually it emerged that the man was a mentally deranged individual, who had recently been released from a State institution.
External links
- Yad Yechiel, distributor of Rabbi Frand's tapes
- Torah.org (Project Genesis), weekly email list of Rabbi Frand's speeches
- Torah Conferencing Network
- Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation
- Audio Shiurim on Kol HaLashon
Public Relations Director- Efraim Acker