Emanuel Feldman

Emanuel Feldman (born August 26, 1927) is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and rabbi emeritus of Congregation Beth Jacob of Atlanta, Georgia. During his nearly 40 years as a congregational rabbi, he oversaw the growth of the Orthodox community in Atlanta from a community small enough to support two small Orthodox synagogues girls schools and a kollel. He is a past vice-president of the Rabbinical Council of America and former editor of Tradition: The Journal of Orthodox Jewish thought published by the RCA. He is the older brother of Rabbi Aharon Feldman, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, Baltimore, Maryland. and from age 16 to 24 he studied at Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, where he received his rabbinical ordination in 1952. That same year, he earned his Master of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University, having earlier completed a Bachelor of Science degree at that university.

Congregational rabbi In 1952, Feldman assumed his first and only pulpit, and brought his bride to Atlanta.

Feldman's first major test of his authority occurred in 1955, when the congregation moved into a church building. Feldman had a mechitza installed for the first night of Selichos. When they saw the tall divider separating the men's and women's sections, most of the board members' wives stormed out of the shul. The next morning, the mechitza was missing. When board members dragged their feet about reinstalling it, Feldman put his young rabbinate on the line and threatened to quit if it they didn't bring it back. On the morning before Rosh Hashana, the mechitza reappeared without comment. From that point on, the congregation acceded to its rabbi on all halakhic matters. near Emory University. The new facility included a Hebrew school and a mikvah. his wife was the school's first principal.

During his nearly 40 years as a congregational rabbi, Feldman spoke out on controversial issues facing the community, including the opening of the Atlanta Jewish Community Center on Shabbat, kashrut, adoption, divorce, autopsy, and circumcision.

In 1980 Ilan D. Feldman, joined his father as assistant rabbi of the congregation. With Feldman's retirement in 1991, his son became the senior rabbi of the synagogue.

Feldman and his wife moved to Jerusalem in 1991, having guided more than 70 other families to make aliyah as well. From 1988 to 2001, he was the editor-in-chief of Tradition: The Journal of Orthodox Jewish thought, published by the Rabbinical Council of America.

Feldman is a regular contributor to cross-currents.com, a blog that presents the perspectives of Orthodox Jewish writers on current events, and has been a regular op-ed contributor to The Jerusalem Post since 2006. He has also written hundreds of articles for magazines such as the Saturday Review and The New Republic. the daughter of Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg, former rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Ner Yisroel.

Selected bibliography

(co-authored with Aharon Lichtenstein and Joel B. Wolowelsky)

(co-edited with Joel B. Wolowelsky)