Shmuel Goldin

{{Short description|American Jewish Rabbi}} {{Infobox person | name = | image = File:Rabbi Shmuel Goldin.jpg | alt = Shmuel Goldin wearing a suit while standing outside | caption = Goldin in 2007 | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1952}} | birth_place = [[Brooklyn]], New York, U.S. | occupation = {{flatlist| * Rabbi * author }} | spouse = Barbara Goldin }} '''Shmuel Goldin''' (born 1952) is a [[Modern Orthodox]] rabbi, scholar, and author. He served as senior rabbi of [[Congregation Ahavath Torah]] in [[Englewood, New Jersey]], from 1984 until 2017, and was president of the [[Rabbinical Council of America]] (RCA) from May 2010 to July 2013.

==Early life and education== Goldin was born in the [[Borough Park, Brooklyn|Borough Park]] neighborhood of Brooklyn and raised in West Hempstead, New York.<ref name="Palmer2013">{{cite web |last=Palmer |first=Joanne |title='Rabbi of rabbis' looks back |url=https://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/rabbi-of-rabbis-looks-back/ |work=The Jewish Standard |date=July 5, 2013 |access-date=April 28, 2025}}</ref> He attended the Brooklyn Talmudic Academy and studied at [[Yeshiva University]]’s Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, where he received rabbinic ordination and earned a master’s degree in Jewish education.<ref name="Palmer2013"/>

==Career== In 1976, Goldin began his rabbinic career as Assistant Rabbi in Charge of Youth at [[Beth Jacob Congregation (Beverly Hills, California)|Beth Jacob Congregation]] in [[Beverly Hills]], California. Later that year, he became rabbi of Beth Sholom Congregation in Potomac, Maryland, serving there for six years.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Congregation Ahavath Torah |title=Rabbi Emeritus - Congregation Ahavath Torah |url=https://www.ahavathtorah.org/rabbi-emeritus.html |website=www.ahavathtorah.org |access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref> In 1984, he was appointed senior rabbi of Congregation Ahavath Torah, leading the synagogue for 33 years and expanding its educational and outreach programs.<ref name="Palmer2013"/> In April 2017, Ahavath Torah held a farewell tribute as Goldin and his wife prepared to relocate to Israel.<ref>{{cite web |last=Palmer |first=Joanne |title=Another trip on Goldin Way |url=https://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/another-trip-on-goldin-way/ |work=The Jewish Standard |date=April 27, 2017 |access-date=April 28, 2025}}</ref>

Goldin served as president of the Rabbinical Council of America from May 2010 until July 2013.<ref name="Palmer2013"/>

==Publications and scholarship== Goldin is the author of the multi-volume series ''Unlocking the Torah Text'' and of ''Unlocking the Haggadah'' (2019), a commentary on the Passover Haggadah combining translation, essays, and philosophical analysis. His Haggadah commentary was reviewed by Greer Fay Cashman in ''The Jerusalem Post'' in April 2019.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cashman |first=Greer Fay |title=Unlocking the Haggadah |url=https://www.jpost.com/Jerusalem-Report/Unlocking-the-Hagaddah-586570 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=April 11, 2019 |access-date=April 28, 2025}}</ref>

==Public positions== In July 2010, Goldin was among the signatories of a Rabbinical Council of America statement calling on Orthodox communities to welcome gay and lesbian Jews and their children as full members and to oppose conversion therapy.<ref>{{cite web |last=Nachshoni |first=Kobi |title=Orthodox rabbis in US: Accept homosexuals and their children |url=https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3926281,00.html |work=Ynet |date=July 28, 2010 |access-date=April 28, 2025}}</ref>

Goldin’s reflections on making aliyah and life in Jerusalem were featured in a 2022 interview in ''The Jewish Link''.<ref name="jewishlink">{{cite web |last=Zacks |first=Aviva |title=Rabbi Shmuel Goldin: Aliyah Is 'Very Meaningful and Life-Changing' |url=https://jewishlink.news/rabbi-shmuel-goldin-aliyah-is-very-meaningful-and-life-changing/ |work=The Jewish Link |date=September 29, 2022 |access-date=April 28, 2025}}</ref>

==Recognition== Goldin was selected as one of the “Forward 50” influential Jewish leaders in 2011 by ''The Forward''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Shmuel Goldin |url=https://forward.com/news/145422/shmuel-goldin/ |work=The Forward |date=2011 |access-date=April 28, 2025}}</ref>

==Personal life== Goldin and his wife, Barbara, have five children. They reside in Jerusalem following his [[aliyah]] in 2017.<ref name="jewishlink"/>

==References== {{Reflist}} [[Category:Orthodox rabbis from New York City]] {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldin, Shmuel}} [[Category:1952 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Yeshiva University alumni]]