Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin (1945 – 23 December 2020), author of the responsa Benei Banim, was a Religious Zionist and Modern Orthdox posek.

Early life and education

Yehuda Henkin was born in Pennsylvania in 1945 and raised in New Haven, Connecticut. His father was Dr. Avraham Hillel Henkin, who headed the local Board of Jewish Education. After graduating from the Yeshivah of Flatbush High School in 1962, he studied five years with his grandfather, Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, from whom he received semichah. He also received semichah from Rabbi Yehuda Gershuni. During this time he also completed a master's degree in the sociology of religion at Columbia University. His uncle was Professor Louis Henkin, who taught international law at Columbia. He and his wife Chana Henkin moved to Israel in 1972 and he served as the Rabbi of the Beit She'an valley before moving to Jerusalem.

Personal life

He lived in Jerusalem, with his wife, Chana Henkin, founder and head of Nishmat, the Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies for Women. His son, Rabbi Eitam Henkin, and his daughter-in-law Naama were murdered by Palestinian terrorists on 1 October 2015, in front of their four young children. His closest student was Rabbi David Sperling, head of the Bet Midrash at Nishmat, who studied with him for over thirty years.

Scholarly books

Between 1981 and 2004 he published four volumes elucidating Jewish Law in a book called Benei Banim (Hebrew). In the summer of 2019 he published a book of biblical exegesis called Mahalakhim Ba-Mikra.

Responsa

Henkin discusses whether those who believe that the Lubavitcher Rebbe is the messiah are considered to be heretics, ruling that they are not. He cites his grandfather R. Yosef Eliyahu Henkin that hearing Shofar and Megillah cannot be done by radio, and that therefore Kol Isha does not apply over the radio. Henkin was unsure whether this applies to hearing a woman's voice on television. He allows women studying Talmud. He permits dancing on the Sabbath, but prohibits clapping hands. He permits a man to shake a woman's hand when offered, and vice versa.

Deferring to the Arukh HaShulkan

He cites his grandfather R. Yosef Eliyahu Henkin as considering the Aruch HaShulchan as more definitive than the Mishnah Berurah.

Partnership Minyan

He has written the major objection to the concept of a partnership minyan, particularly the issue of calling women to the Torah. In an article in the EDAH journal article on the subject, he provided point-by-point halakhic counterarguments, and also said: