Kenneth Brander
'Kenneth Brander is an Israeli-American Modern Orthodox rabbi who is President and Rosh HaYeshiva of the Ohr Torah Stone network of institutions.
Early life and education
Brander grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and Queens, New York.He is a 1984 alumnus of Yeshiva College and received his ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary in 1986. During that time he served as a student assistant to Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and as the editor for The Yeshiva University Haggada. Brander also received special ordination from the Puah Institute in Israel, and from the late Israeli Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, in the fields of medical ethics, reproductive technology and halakha.
Brander has a PhD in general philosophy and comparative literature from Florida Atlantic University. His dissertation was titled "The Temple in Jerusalem Idealized and the Historic-Synagogue-Institution: A Study in Synagogue Purposes in an American Context."
Career
From 1990 to 1991, Brander was the acting rabbi of New York City's Lincoln Square Synagogue, after having served as assistant rabbi from 1986 to 1990.From 1991 to 2005, Brander served as the senior rabbi of the Boca Raton Synagogue. During this time, the community grew from 60 to 600 families. While there, Brander founded the Katz Yeshiva High School, and studied Jewish law regarding reproductive technologies. He is now Rabbi Emeritus of Boca Raton Synagogue.
From 2005 to 2018, Brander served as Vice President for University and Community Life, as well as the inaugural David Mitzner Dean of Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future at Yeshiva University. He also taught rabbinic courses at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.
At YU, Brander worked to improve and expand the student experience, developing opportunities for students to engage with communities outside of the classroom, and restructuring the Graduate Program of Advanced Talmudic Studies for Women.
In 2018, he was named President and Rosh HaYeshiva of Ohr Torah Stone, succeeding Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, who founded the organization in 1983.
Personal life
Rabbi Brander moved to Israel in 2018. He and his wife have five children and several grandchildren.Works
• “Exploring the Biblical Prohibition on Selling land to Non-Jews Living in the Land of Israel and its Contemporary Relevance", V'Chai Imach ,• “Finding a Home in our Midst: Engaging and Welcoming Gay and Lesbian Jews Within the Orthodox Community”
• “Fashioning Our Spiritual Garb”, Mitokh Ha-Ohel, From Within the Tent: Essays on the weekly Haftarah Reading ed. Daniel Z. Feldman and Stuart W. Halpern, 451–456.
• “In the Eye of the Storm: Shabbat Observance During a Hurricane or Severe Weather Event,” Journal of Halakha and Contemporary Society, LXIV, 41–65.
• “Artificial Insemination and Surrogate Motherhood through the Prism of Jewish Law,” B’Or Ha’Torah, XII,, 59–65.