Ezra Schochet

Ezra Binyomin Schochet (Hebrew: עזרא בנימין שוחט‎) is an Orthodox rabbi and Lubavitcher Hasid who serves as rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad/West Coast Talmudical Seminary in Los Angeles, California.

Rabbi

Ezra Schochet
Personal
Born
Ezra Binyomin Schochet
ReligionJudaism
SpouseSara Rochel Weinberg
ChildrenMenachem
Chana
Hadassah
Yehudis
Avrohom
Dov Yehudah[1]
ParentsRabbi Dov Yehuda Schochet
Sara Sosha Mussensohn
DenominationOrthodox Judaism
Alma materNer Israel Rabbinical College (Baltimore)
Beth Medrash Govoha
Yeshivas Brisk (Jerusalem)
Jewish leader
PredecessorRabbi Simcha Wasserman
PositionRosh yeshiva
YeshivaYeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad/West Coast Talmudical Seminary
Began1977
OtherRosh yeshiva, Tomchei Temimim, Lod, Israel
Rosh kollel, Ner Israel, Toronto, Canada
ResidenceLos Angeles, California
SemichaTel Aviv and Jerusalem Rabbinical Courts

Early life and education

Ezra Binyomin Schochet is one of six sons and four daughters[2] of Rabbi Dov Yehuda Schochet (d. 1974)[3] and Sara Sosha Mussensohn. His father was the Chief Rabbi of Basel, Switzerland[4] from 1930 until 1947 and Chief Rabbi of The Hague and adjacent regional towns in the Netherlands from 1947 to 1951. Shortly after immigrating to Toronto in the early 1950s, the Schochets and most of their children joined the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, including young Ezra. His brothers include Rabbi Dr. Jacob Immanuel Schochet (1935-2013),[2] a prominent scholar and lecturer in Toronto.

Schochet undertook his yeshiva education at Ner Israel Rabbinical College (1959-1960) in Baltimore, MD, Beth Medrash Govoha (1960–1963) in Lakewood, New Jersey, and Yeshivas Brisk in Jerusalem, Israel (1963-1966). After his marriage, he studied at Kollel Radomsk in Bnei Brak from 1967 to 1972. He received rabbinic ordination from both the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court and the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court between 1971 and 1972.[5]

Rosh yeshiva

Schochet assumed his first position as rosh yeshiva of Tomchei Temimim in Lod, Israel, from 1972 to 1973. Afterward he returned to Canada and headed the kollel of Ner Israel in Toronto from 1974 to 1978.[5]

In 1977 he was tapped to succeed Rabbi Simcha Wasserman as rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon in Los Angeles, which had been given over, after the urging of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to open houses of study, to the directorship of Chabad.[6][7] Along with Schochet, Chabad transferred a group of Lubavitcher students from New York to bolster the yeshiva.[7] In addition to serving as rosh yeshiva, Schochet is the yeshiva's CEO, curriculum supervisor, and senior professor of Talmud.[5]

Personal

Schochet married Sara Rochel Weinberg (1944–2010),[8] a granddaughter of the Slonimer Rebbe,[9] in 1967.[10] They have three sons and three daughters.[1] One son, Rabbi Avrohom Schochet, is an associate professor of Talmud at Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad/West Coast Talmudical Seminary,[5] while a daughter, Mrs. Hadassah Spalter, opened a new Chabad girls’ seminary, the Ohel Sara Institute of Higher Learning, in Los Angeles in 2012 in memory of her mother.[11] Unfortunately the seminary did not continue following its second year. His son in law, Reb Amram Farkash currently leads the adjacent high school, and manages operations in the Beis Hamedrash too.

Shortly after his wife's passing, Rabbi Ezra Schochet got remarried[12] to Rebbetzin Batsheva Wolf (nee. Bekerman), of the southern city of Kiryat Malachi.

References
  1. "Levaya Of Rebbitzen Sarah Rochel Schochet A"H". Yeshiva World News. 24 February 2010. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  2. "Boruch Dayan Hoemes: Rabbi Immanuel Schochet, 77, OBM". CrownHeights.info. 28 July 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  3. "Rabbi Dov Yehuda Schochet". kevarim.com. 12 April 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  4. "Special visitor for Chabad Mosdos in Los Angeles, CA". Shmais News Service. 14 November 2006. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  5. "Catalog 2013-2014" (PDF). Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad/West Coast Talmudical Seminary. 2013. pp. 4–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  6. Olidort, S. (17 September 2003). "Five Million Dollar Face-Lift For Chabad Yeshiva in Central L.A." lubavitch.com. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  7. Wenig, Gaby (5 February 2004). "Chabad to Make L.A. a Yeshiva City". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  8. "Sara Rachel Schochet: Social Security Death Index (SSDI) Death Record". Genealogy Bank. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  9. "About Rebbetzin Schochet". Ohel Sara Seminary of Los Angeles. 2012. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  10. "Rabbi Schochet Mourns Wife". collive.com. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  11. "New Seminary in Los Angeles". collive.com. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  12. http://www.collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=16545
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