Mayer Twersky - Biography

Mayer E. Twersky (born October 17, 1960) is an Orthodox rabbi and one of the roshei yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) of Yeshiva University. He holds the Leib Merkin Distinguished Professorial Chair in Talmud and Jewish Philosophy. His popular lectures emphasize a combination of penetrating conceptual analyses and deep ethical imperatives.

Twersky hails from the well-known chassidic family of Chernobyl. He is the younger son of Isadore Twersky and is a distant cousin of Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski. Other cousins include the Grand Rabbis of Chernobyl, and anyone with the last name of Twersky (or Twerski). He is also a grandson and close student of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

Twersky attended the Maimonides School, which his grandfather founded, through high school. He then attended Harvard College, while studying Talmud privately with his grandfather. Following college, he studied for rabbinic ordination at RIETS. He eventually became a teacher in the Yeshiva University High School for Boys and later a lecturer in RIETS.

In addition to Hebrew articles in RIETS's annual Torah journal, Twersky has published three English articles in the journal Tradition and an English article in the Orthodox Union's magazine Jewish Action. Two of these four articles relate to the place of women in contemporary Orthodox Judaism.

Twersky currently holds the position of Grand Rabbi of the Talne hasidim.

Twersky is currently on the board of TorahWeb, which frequently publishes short English articles of his. He also lectures frequently to synagogue congregants.

Online Speeches

• TorahWeb.org Audio and Video
• YU Torah
• Leib Merkin Distinguished Professorial Chair in Talmud and Jewish Philosophy

Online Articles

• TorahWeb.org Articles
• Torah Perspectives on Women's Issues
• Halakhic Values and Halakhic Decisions: Rav Soloveitchik’s Pesak Regarding Women’s Prayer Groups
• Rabbi Gil Student's defense of Rabbi Twersky's article