Ezra Binyomin Schochet (Hebrew: עזרא בנימין שוחט) is an Orthodox rabbi and Lubavitcher Hasid who serves as Rosh Yeshiva (dean) of Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad/West Coast Talmudical Seminary in Los Angeles, California, US.

Rabbi
Ezra Schochet
Personal
Born
Ezra Binyomin Schochet
ReligionJudaism
SpouseSara Rochel Weinberg, Batsheva Wolf
Children6[1]
Parent(s)Rabbi Dov Yehuda Schochet
Sara Sosha Mussensohn
DenominationOrthodox Judaism
Alma materNer Israel Rabbinical College (Baltimore)
Beth Medrash Govoha
Yeshivas Brisk (Jerusalem)
Jewish leader
PredecessorRabbi Simcha Wasserman
PositionRosh yeshiva
YeshivaYeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad/West Coast Talmudical Seminary
Began1977
OtherRosh yeshiva, Tomchei Temimim, Lod, Israel
Rosh kollel, Ner Israel, Toronto, Canada
ResidenceLos Angeles, California, US
SemikhahTel Aviv and Jerusalem Rabbinical Courts

Early life and education

edit

Ezra Binyomin Schochet is one of six sons and four daughters[2] of Rabbi Dov Yehuda Schochet (d. 1974)[3] and Sara Sosha Mussensohn. His father was the Chief Rabbi of Basel, Switzerland[4] from 1930 until 1947.[5] Shortly after immigrating to Toronto in the early 1950s, the Schochets and most of their children joined the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, including young Ezra. His brothers included Rabbi Dr. Jacob Immanuel Schochet (1935–2013).[2]

Schochet undertook his yeshiva education at Ner Israel Rabbinical College (1959–1960) in Baltimore, MD, Beth Medrash Govoha (1960–1963) in Lakewood, New Jersey, and Yeshivas Brisk in Jerusalem, Israel (1963–1966). After his marriage, he studied at the Kollel of Radomsk in Bnei Brak (1967–1972). He received rabbinic ordination from both the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court and the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court between 1971 and 1972.[6]

Rosh Yeshiva

edit

Rabbi Schochet assumed the position of rosh yeshiva of Tomchei Temimim in Lod, Israel, from 1972 to 1973. He returned to Canada and headed the kollel of Ner Israel in Toronto from 1974 to 1978.[6]

In 1977, he became rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon in Los Angeles, which had been given over to the directorship of Chabad.[7][8] Chabad transferred a group of Lubavitcher students from New York to bolster the yeshiva.[8] Schochet is also the yeshiva's CEO, curriculum supervisor, and senior professor of Talmud.[6]

Personal

edit

Schochet married Sara Rochel Weinberg (1944–2010),[9] a granddaughter of the Slonimer Rebbe,[10] in 1967.[11] Weinberg died in 2010.[12] In 2011 Schochet married Batsheva Wolf from Israel.[13]

Rabbi Schochet has three sons and three daughters. His son Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Shochet, a Talmudic scholar, teaches in his father's Yeshiva. Two of Schochet's son-in-laws, as well as some of his grandchildren, are part of the Yeshiva faculty.[14]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Levaya Of Rebbitzen Sarah Rochel Schochet A"H". Yeshiva World News. February 24, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Boruch Dayan Hoemes: Rabbi Immanuel Schochet, 77, OBM". CrownHeights.info. July 28, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  3. ^ "Rabbi Dov Yehuda Schochet". kevarim.com. April 12, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  4. ^ "Special visitor for Chabad Mosdos in Los Angeles, CA". Shmais News Service. November 14, 2006. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  5. ^ "In 1947, he was elected Chief Rabbi of The Hague and South Holland and held that position for four years". ontariojewisharchives.org.
  6. ^ a b c "Catalog 2013-2014" (PDF). Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad/West Coast Talmudical Seminary. 2013. pp. 4–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  7. ^ Olidort, S. (September 17, 2003). "Five Million Dollar Face-Lift For Chabad Yeshiva in Central L.A." lubavitch.com. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  8. ^ a b Wenig, Gaby (February 5, 2004). "Chabad to Make L.A. a Yeshiva City". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  9. ^ "Sara Rachel Schochet: Social Security Death Index (SSDI) Death Record". Genealogy Bank. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  10. ^ "About Rebbetzin Schochet". Ohel Sara Seminary of Los Angeles. 2012. Archived from the original on December 26, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  11. ^ "Rabbi Schochet Mourns Wife". collive.com. March 1, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  12. ^ "Rabbi Schochet Mourns Wife". collive.com. March 1, 2010. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  13. ^ "The Rosh Is Engaged". collive.com. September 28, 2011. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  14. ^ "Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad". Chabad.org. September 28, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
edit