MICHAEL ROSEN

Background

His thinking was strongly influenced by his father, who rejected fundamentalism and obscurantism and instead embraced secular wisdom while remaining committed to religious life.

Education

University of Pennsylvania (Bachelor of Arts, 1968). Boston University (Juris Doctor, 1971). Banking, Financial Institutions and Common Carrier Law.

Career

Michael ("Mickey") Rosen was one of three sons of Rabbi Yaakov Kopul and Bella Rosen. Rosen was first educated at Carmel College, the school his father had founded based on this philosophical orientation. He then continued his education at the Slabodka Yeshiva and the Grodno Yeshiva Beer Yaakov, both in Bnei Brak.

He received semikhah from the latter in 1973.

In addition, he studied at the Harry Fischel Institute for Talmudic Research in Jerusalem, and was presented with a second semikhah by Chief Rabbi Isser Yehuda Unterman. After serving as a rabbi near Manchester, Rosen opened a Jewish educational center in London in 1978 called Yakar – Center for Tradition and Creativity, whose name is an acronym of his father"s name, Yaakov Kopul Rosen, and also means precious or worthy in the Hebrew language.

In 1992 he established a Yakar center in Jerusalem and, in 2007, another in Tel Aviv. What was unique about the Yakar concept was that it blended traditional Jewish learning with social action, interfaith dialogue and the arts

In 1994, Rosen received a Doctor of Philosophy from London University College after submitting a dissertation entitled A Commentary on Job Attributed to Rashbam.

He spent his last three weeks in coma after a fall. He was buried on 9 December 2008 in the Har HaMenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem. He was widely considered one of the most popular and revered Anglo-immigrant rabbis in Israel.

Achievements

• MICHAEL ROSEN has been listed as a reputable lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell.