Avi Shafran - Biography

Abraham (Avi) Shafran is a Haredi rabbi who serves as the Director of Public Affairs for Agudath Israel of America and who is Editor-at-Large of Ami (Magazine). Agudath Israel was established to meet the needs and viewpoint of many Haredi Jews, while Ami, launched on November 24, 2010, promises to serve a broader Orthodox and non-Orthodox readership. He is also a contributing writer to Cross-Currents, an online journal of Orthodox Jewish thought and opinion.

Shafran is widely known in the Jewish world as a writer and lecturer. He is the author of a weekly column that is syndicated in the Jewish press in the United States and other anglophone countries, as well as in English language publications in Israel. Many of his articles are directed at a wider Jewish audience, including less observant Jews, and are designed to explain this tradition.

He has been critical of the Jewish Conservative movement's claim of halachic legitimacy. He publicly opposes the possibility of Israel recognizing the legality of Reform and Conservative personal status ceremonies (i.e. marriage, divorce, and conversion).

His columns are often available at the Jewish World Review .

Shafran was the principal of The Providence Hebrew Day School in Rhode Island prior to his appointment at the Agudah organization. He presently resides in Staten Island, New York.

He is the author of Migrant Soul, "the story of a descendant of full-blooded American Indians who married an assimilated Jewess" and then began a "spiritual quest" that ended with both as Orthodox Jews. He is also an author of JewThink, a book on basics of Judaism.

Footnotes

External links

• Archive of Rabbi Avi Shafran's articles, on Cross-Currents
• Articles by Avi Shafran on jewishworldreview.com
• Articles by Avi Shafran on simpletoremember.com
• Articles by Avi Shafran on chabad.org
• Articles by Avi Shafran on aish.com
• Articles by Avi Shafran in the New York Times