Wikipedia

Adam Mintz

Adam Mintz (born May 15, 1961) is an American Orthodox rabbi,[1] Talmud teacher, professor, and advocate for Orthodox conversions to Judaism[2] and head of the conversion court, Rodfei Zedek.[3] Mintz is the Founding Rabbi of Kehilat Rayim Ahuvim in New York City and a member of the Talmud faculty at Yeshivat Maharat.

Photograph of Rabbi Adam Mintz

Biography

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Early life and education

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Mintz was born in Washington, D.C. to Rabbi Benjamin Mintz and Harriet Ashinsky.[4] He attended the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy in Greater Washington before transferring to Manhattan Hebrew High School in Riverdale, New York. Mintz graduated from Yeshiva College in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in Jewish History and a master's degree in Medieval Jewish History.[5]

In 1985, Mintz received Yoreh Yoreh Semikhah (rabbinical ordination) from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University and in 1988 Yadin Yadin Semikhah, qualifying him to serve as a rabbinical judge.[5]

In 2011, he earned a Ph.D. in Modern Jewish History from New York University, with his doctoral thesis focusing on the history of the eruv in North America.[6]

Career

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Mintz was the Associate Rabbi for Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on the Upper East Side from 1992 to 1996, and then Senior Rabbi of Lincoln Square Synagogue on the Upper West Side from 1996 to 2004. While at Lincoln Square Synagogue, Mintz hired Julie Stern Joseph, the first woman congregational intern in an Orthodox synagogue in America.[6] In 2004, he founded Kehilat Rayim Ahuvim, a Modern Orthodox synagogue on the Upper East Side.[3]

In 2020, Mintz founded Project Ruth, an organization dedicated to facilitating accessible Orthodox conversions to Judaism.[7] Following the October 7 events, there was a significant increase in Jewish conversions in America, with Project Ruth playing a pivotal role in this movement as one of the largest of its kind in the U.S.[8][9]

Education and Leadership Roles

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Mintz teaches Talmud and Practical Rabbinics at Yeshivat Maharat in New York.[10] Additionally, he is the founder and director of 929 English, an online platform dedicated to promoting the daily study of the Hebrew Bible.[11] As co-president of the Manhattan Eruv, Mintz expanded the eruv to include most of Manhattan from 146th Street to the southern tip of Manhattan.[12][13][14][15]

Mintz was President of the New York Board of Rabbis, a nondenominational association comprising over 800 rabbis, from 2004 to 2006. He also served as the Liaison to the Jewish Community for William C. Thompson, the Comptroller of New York City. Mintz was a member of the Orthodox Roundtable, a Modern Orthodox rabbinic think tank focused on promoting halakhic discussion and practical responses to contemporary issues.[16]

Mintz was a Tikvah Scholar-at-Large at the Tikvah Center for Law and Jewish Civilization at New York University School of Law from 2012 to 2013.[17] He has also served as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Jewish History at City College and has been a visiting lecturer at Queens College, Brooklyn College, City College and Rutgers University.[18]

Publications

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Mintz's works encompass a wide range of topics related to Judaism and Jewish life:

  • Building Communities: A History of the Eruv in America[19]
  • “The Community Eruv and the American Public Square,” Diné Israel[20]
  • “A Chapter in American Orthodoxy: The Eruvin in Brooklyn,” Hakirah[21]
  • “Variable, Vital, and Frequently Chaotic: American Jewry,” Jewish Quarterly Review[22]
  • “Is Coca-Cola Kosher? Rabbi Tobias Geffen and the History of American Orthodoxy,” in Rav Chesed: Essays in Honor of Rabbi Dr. Haskel Lookstein[23]
  • The Talmud in Translation, in Printing the Talmud: From Bomberg to Schottenstein[24]
  • Conversion, Intermarriage, and Jewish Identity (editor)[25]
  • It’s A Thin Line: Eruv From Talmudic to Modern Culture (editor)[26]
  • The Relationship of Orthodox Jews with Believing Jews of Other Religious Ideologies and Non-Believing Jews (editor)[27]
  • Jewish Spirituality and Divine Law (editor)[28]

Personal life

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Mintz is married to Sharon Liberman who is the Curator of Jewish Art at The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary Library (JTS) in New York[29] and serves as the Judaica International Senior Specialist, for Sotheby's,[30] where she was responsible for the sale of Codex Sassoon, the world's most expensive book.[31] The couple resides on the Upper West Side and have three children and three grandchildren.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Dr. Rabbi Adam Mintz | TheTorah.com". www.thetorah.com. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  2. ^ "Rabbi Mintz". Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  3. ^ a b c "About Us - KRA". kra.shulcloud.com. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  4. ^ "Washington Jewish News: Benjamin Mintz". Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  5. ^ a b "Torah In Motion: Rabbi Adam Mintz". Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  6. ^ a b Goodstein, Laurie (1998-02-06). "Unusual, but Not Unorthodox; Causing a Stir, 2 Synagogues Hire Women to Assist Rabbis". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  7. ^ Jerusalem Post: Converting to Judaism: Is it good for the Jews?
  8. ^ Haaretz: Time to Take the Plunge
  9. ^ Times of Israel: For Some, Oct. 7 Fuels Dedication to Becoming Jewish
  10. ^ "Rabbi Adam Mintz". Yeshivat Maharat. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  11. ^ "About". www.929.org.il. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  12. ^ Freedman, Samuel G. (2010-03-05). "A Jewish Ritual Collides With Mother Nature". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  13. ^ "High wire strewn through city lets Jews keep the faith". 2015-05-24. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  14. ^ Rabbi Elchanan Poupko (2023-01-25). Thank you Rabbi Adam Mintz for the Manhattan Eruv!. Retrieved 2024-07-03 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ "The Ins and Outs of New York's Eruv". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  16. ^ Yumpu.com. "The New York Board of Rabbis". yumpu.com. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  17. ^ "Research Gate: Adam Mintz".
  18. ^ "Adam Mintz – The Seforim Blog". 2007-03-13. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  19. ^ Fishman, Philip (2023-06-01). "Adam Mintz, Building Communities: A History of the Eruv in America (Academic Studies Press, 2023), pp. 186". Contemporary Jewry. 43 (2): 497–500. doi:10.1007/s12397-023-09504-y. ISSN 1876-5165.
  20. ^ "Dine Israel Volume 31".
  21. ^ "Hakirah.org". hakirah.org. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  22. ^ "Variable, Vital, and Frequently Chaotic: American Jewry". Jewish Quarterly Review. 100 (3 (Summer, 2010)).
  23. ^ Lookstein, Haskel (2009). Rav Chesed: Essays in Honor of Rabbi Dr. Haskel Lookstein. KTAV Publishing House. ISBN 978-1-60280-115-8.
  24. ^ "Printing the Talmud: From Bomberg to Schottenstein (Softcover) - Publications - Yeshiva University Museum". www.yumuseum.org. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  25. ^ "Urim Publications: CONVERSION, INTERMARRIAGE, AND JEWISH IDENTITY (The Orthodox Forum)". www.urimpublications.com. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  26. ^ It's a Thin Line. Ktav Pub & Distributors. 2014. ISBN 978-1602802766.
  27. ^ The Relationship of Orthodox Jews with Believing Jews of Other Religious Ideologies and Non-Believing Jews. Yeshiva University Press. 2010. ISBN 978-1-60280-140-0.
  28. ^ Jewish Spirituality And Divine Law. Ktav. 2005. ISBN 0881258652.
  29. ^ "Library Exhibits - Jewish Theological Seminary". 2016-04-06. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
  30. ^ "Judaica". Sothebys.com. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
  31. ^ "Codex Sassoon. Circa 900, Land of Israel or Syria | Codex Sassoon: The Earliest Most Complete Hebrew Bible | 2023". Sotheby's. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
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