(Courtesy of MTA) MTA will pay tribute to Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Michael Taubes (’76) at the Yeshiva University High Schools Annual Dinner on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020 at Marina Del Rey.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have Rabbi Taubes as a leader, posek, and role model for the MTA community and are proud to include him among our alumni,” said Head of School Rabbi Joshua Kahn. “From the two times he has served as head of school to his current role of rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Taubes has led our yeshiva with wisdom, sensitivity, thoughtfulness and Torah values.”
Rabbi Taubes has been involved in chinuch, both formal and informal, as a rebbe, teacher and administrator for more than 30 years. He is also the author of The Practical Torah, a collection of presentations on Halacha based on the weekly parsha and various scholarly essays in Hebrew and English, which have been published in Torah journals, and serves as the the rav of Kehillas Zichron Mordechai in Teaneck, where he resides with his wife and family.
“I certainly never imagined when I was a student at MTA in the 1970s that I would one day be the rosh yeshiva!” shared Rabbi Taubes. “I am most grateful for having been blessed with this opportunity, because I had a wonderful educational experience both at MTA and at Yeshiva University as a student and I am now able to give back by helping to ensure that subsequent generations of talmidim walk away with the same positive feelings of success and accomplishment as I have. Being a rosh yeshiva means trying to positively influence the minds and hearts of each new generation of talmidim by showing them how the Torah speaks to each of them and thereby deepening their religious commitment. I try to impact our talmidim, not only by teaching and imparting information, but by being a role model to whom they can look up and connect. I daven with one group of talmidim each morning, I give chaburos to small groups on various topics three times a week, I visit classes to discuss hashkafa and related questions and I make myself available to talk with talmidim on a one-to-one basis. My goal as a rebbe has always been to inspire each talmid to become a true ben Torah whose entire life is always informed by his awareness of the presence of Hashem. A ben Torah is measured not necessarily by how many blatt of Gemara he has mastered, how many perakim of Chumash he has studied, or how many simanim in the Shulchan Aruch he knows, as important as one’s significant accomplishments in those areas are. Rather, a ben Torah is measured as well by how he acts, how he interacts, how he talks and how he carries himself. I want our talmidim to learn to always be ready, and indeed proud, to demonstrate their recognition of their relationship with Hashem in their day-to-day behavior.”
Join MTA in honoring Rabbi Taubes and celebrating his contributions to its community. Make your reservations today at www.yu.edu/hsdinner.
