Local rabbis are named on ‘most influential’ list

Numerous Riverdalians took up spots on the fifth “America’s 50 Most Influential Rabbis,” compiled by Newsweek and The Daily Beast. 

Rabbi Avi Weiss, the founder of The Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, was ranked 12th for being, “an agenda-setting voice in the Modern Orthodox world.” 

HIR’s Rabba Sara Hurwitz’s also made the list, coming in at 32 for “her commitment to myriad rabbinical duties at The Hebrew Institute of Riverdale” and for heading up Yeshivat Marharat, a new orthodox seminary for women.

Last year, Rabbi Weiss was criticized for making Ms. Hurwitz the first female rabbi — known as a rabba — in Orthodox Judaism, but, as The Daily Beast noted, “the dust has finally settled.” 

Riverdalian Ethan Tucker took the 40th spot, for creating an Upper West Side seminary called Mechon Hadar. The school does not force students to commit to a year, which has helped “make disengaged Jews take a second look at Judaism,” the list read, in part. 

Dov Linzer, also a Riverdale resident, came in at 44th. As dean of the seminary Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, Mr. Linzer has worked to create, “a more expansive, inclusive definition of Orthodoxy.” Although the school’s practices have been widely criticized, writer Abigail Pogrebin seemed sure he would be a centerpiece in modern orthodoxy for years to come.