Meir Yaakov Soloveichik (born July 29, 1977) is an American Orthodox rabbi and writer. He is the son of Rabbi Eliyahu Soloveichik, grandson of Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik, and a great nephew of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the leader of American Jewry who identified with what became known as Modern Orthodoxy.

Education

Soloveichik learned in Cheder Lubavitch Hebrew Day School of Chicago (in Skokie, IL) for elementary and Brisk Yeshiva high school (Chicago, IL) run by his grandfather, Ahron Soloveichik. He then graduated from Yeshiva College in New York City, where he also received rabbinic ordination (semicha) at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and studied philosophy of religion at Yale University Divinity School, although he did not receive a degree from Yale. He later received a PhD in Religion from Princeton University. He wrote his doctorate on the modern Orthodox theologian Michael Wyschogrod.

Career

A regular contributor to general interest and Jewish publications such as First Things, The Forward, Commentary Magazine, and the journal Azure, where he was Contributing Editor, he has written a number of articles concerning issues in Jewish thought and life, the relationship between Judaism and Christianity and the limits of interfaith dialogue established by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. He was the resident scholar of the Jewish Center in New York City, and later, Associate Rabbi at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, also in New York City. In May 2013, he became Rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York City, a Sephardic synagogue, and the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. He is the director of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University. It had been reported that he had been considered a candidate to replace Jonathan Sacks as the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom. However, the position ultimately went to Ephraim Mirvis. In August 2012, he gave the invocation at the opening session of the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.

Brisker rabbinic dynasty

Religious writings

Political writings

Lectures and sermons

Judaism and the Origins of America

Personal

He is married to Layaliza Soloveichik (née Klein), a 1997 graduate of Yale University Law School.