Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer grew up in London, England, moving to Israel to study in Yeshiva. After marriage, he studied for close to a decade under Rav Asher Weiss, shlita, and proceeded to serve for several years as a Dayan on Rav Weiss’s Beis Din. During this period, he also served in several Halacha-related positions, including moderating a prominent international Halacha website (dinonline.org), serving as chief editor of Ner Le’elef’s Resources Program, and acting as assistant to Israel’s Chief Rabbi in writing Halachic responsa. Rabbi Pfeffer continued to study law at Hebrew University, where he completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and did his internship at Israel’s Supreme Court He was the first head of Hebrew University’s pre-academic school for Charedim and was a partner in establishing Yeshivat Chedvas Ha-Torah, a “Yeshiva Ketana” that also incorporates general studies. Today, Rabbi Pfeffer heads the Charedi Division at the Tikvah Fund, where he runs a range of programs and initiatives related to public policy from a Torah and Haredi perspective. He is the founding editor of “Tzarich Iyun,” a journal of Chredi thought that deals with a broad range of topics and has developed a large following. He lives in Ramot, Jerusalem, where he is Rav of the “Ohr Chadash” community, with his wife Tamar and their eight children.
We were privileged to hear him address the Yeshiva.
