Aaron Moshe Schechter (or Aharon Moshe Schechter, July 16, 1928 – August 24, 2023) was an American Haredi rabbi. He was the rosh yeshiva (Dean) of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin and its post-graduate Talmudical division, Kollel Gur Aryeh. He also served on the presidium of Agudath Israel of America and was a member of that organization's Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages).

Early life

Aaron Moshe Schechter was born to Yosef and Fruma Rochel in Brooklyn, East New York. After studying at Yeshiva Toras Chaim elementary school, he went to high school at Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, where he became a disciple of Yitzchak Hutner. He went on to study in Lakewood Yeshiva.

Rabbinic career

Hutner chose Schechter for leadership positions in the Yeshiva prior to Schechter's marriage. He encouraged Schechter to write a rabbinic commentary on a section of Mishneh Torah, which Schechter called Avodas Aharon.

Agudath Israel and Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah

After Hutner's death in 1980, Schechter joined the Nesius (presidium) of Agudath Israel of America. Schechter worked closely with two other early disciples of Hutner on the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah: Aharon Feldman of Yeshiva Ner Yisrael, and Yaakov Perlow, the Rebbe of Novominsk, who was appointed Rosh Agudas Yisroel (head of Agudath Israel of America). On January 13, 2015, Schechter resigned from the Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah over a dispute regarding internal dissent in the World Agudath Israel-affiliated Degel Hatorah. After the dispute was settled, he returned.

Personal life and death

Schechter married Shoshana Roisa Leichtung in 1954. She served as the Principal of General Studies at Yeshiva of Brooklyn's girls' elementary school for over 20 years. She died on August 4, 2016. Their two sons and three daughters are all connected to Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin. Mordechai Zelig Schechter served as the mashgiach ruchani (spiritual supervisor) until his petira (Tishrei 5784). Their eldest daughter Esther Yormark, a teacher at Beis Yaakov Academy in Brooklyn, is married to Eliyahu, a teacher in Chaim Berlin. Nechama was married to HoRav Shlomo Halioua, who succeeded Schechter as rosh yeshiva (dean) until his death on October 27, 2024 (25 Tishrei 5785). Yehudis Senderovitz is married to Yitzchak Meir, who is also a teacher there. Nosson Schechter is a mohel. Schechter died in Brooklyn on August 24, 2023, at the age of 95.

Works