ר׳ אהרן ליכטנשטיין

ר׳ אהרן ליכטנשטיין (1933–2015) was a leading Modern Orthodox Talmudist, educator and religious thinker. Born in Paris to ר׳ יחיאל and Bluma Lichtenstein, he escaped occupied France with his family and reached the United States in 1941. He studied at Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin under ר׳ יצחק הוטנר, then at Yeshiva University, where ר׳ יוסף דב הלוי סולובייצ׳יק became his principal teacher and later father-in-law. Alongside rabbinic ordination, he earned a doctorate in English literature at Harvard. After teaching and heading the kollel at Yeshiva University, he made aliyah in 1971 to lead Yeshivat Har Etzion in Alon Shvut with ר׳ יהודה עמיטל. Over four decades he shaped its rigorous analytical learning, educational culture and synthesis of Torah commitment with moral responsibility and engagement with general culture. His essays addressed halakhah, faith, religious Zionism, ethics, feminism and the value of secular learning, while his Talmudic lectures were published in multi-volume series. Awarded the Israel Prize for Torah Literature in 2014, he died in 2015 and was buried at Har HaMenuchot.