Rabbi Dr. Meir Y. Soloveichik is Director of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University and Associate Rabbi at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan. He graduated summa cum laude from Yeshiva College, received his semikha from RIETS, and was a member of the Beren Kollel Elyon.
In 2010, he received his doctorate in Religion from Princeton University. Rabbi Soloveichik has lectured throughout the United States, in Europe and in Israel to both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences on topics relating to Jewish theology, bioethics, wartime ethics, and Jewish-Christian relations. His essays on these subjects have appeared in Commentary, First Things, Azure, Tradition, and the Torah U-Madda Journal. Rabbi Soloveichik teaches Jewish theology at Yeshiva University and Senior Honors Talmud and Jewish Philosophy at Ramaz.
Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik is an American Orthodox rabbi and scholar. He is an eloquent and ardent advocate for religious liberty as well as a champion of interfaith relations, individual liberty, and of cultivating one’s own faith while being an active participant in the public square.
In 2013, Rabbi Soloveichik was named the head of Shearith Israel in New York City, the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. He is their tenth minister since the American Revolution and comes from a long line of renowned Orthodox rabbis known as leaders of the American Jewish tradition called Modern Orthodoxy. In that capacity, Rabbi Soloveichik has become known for his commitment to civic outreach, community building, and Jewish education.
He works to strengthen interfaith relations in America, advocating alongside religious groups including Catholic, LDS, and Muslim leaders to protect religious higher education and to strengthen individual religious identities.
Rabbi Soloveichik is also an esteemed scholar of Jewish theology, the philosophy of religion, and the American Founding. He obtained his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University and holds a Ph.D. from Princeton in religion. Currently, he serves as Director of the Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University.
He is perhaps best known for the serious way he engages the culture at large. He has written for a variety of outlets including The Wall Street Journal, First Things, Commentary, and The Forward, has been featured in the New York Times, and lectures and presents in a wide range of public forums. A champion of religious liberty for people of all faiths, his star is rising, and Becket is delighted to honor him with the 2018 Canterbury Medal.
