Our Rabbi

Rabbi Wechsler teaching at the Or Zarua Talmud Class

Click on these links to hear Rabbi Wechsler speak about Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook's teachings about teshuvah: Selihot Lecture 5767 Selihot Lecture 5766 Selihot Lecture 5765 Click on this link to hear Rabbi Wechsler teach from the Zohar I, daf 4a: Lag BaOmer 5766 Download   the Zohar text

We founded Or Zarua in 1989 to create a new model for the synagogue, especially the urban synagogue. Contrary to the goals of most congregations, we want Or Zarua to be a small congregation - a place in the heart of the big city where a person can get to know other people and can get to be known, as well. We created Or Zarua to forge a religious environment where study and prayer would be serious challenges, rather than passive experiences or perfunctory events. Traditional texts provide profoundly rich resources which must be explored anew and our synagogue should be a place where serious searching, accompanied by serious commitment, takes place. The Torah should come alive, revelation should be an experience and not just a concept, and God should make a difference in all of our lives.
Rabbi Wechsler

Dr. Harlan J. Wechsler is the founding Rabbi of Congregation Or Zarua and is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he teaches courses in Jewish ethics and in the history of Jewish thought. He is an alumnus of Harvard College and received his rabbinical ordination and PhD degrees from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

Rabbi Wechsler is the author of What's So Bad About Guilt?, published by Simon & Schuster and in paperback by Fireside Press, as well as many articles on Jewish ethics and philosophy. The Rabbinical Assembly has recently published Rabbi Wechsler's commentary on Chapter 4 of Mishnah Bava Metzia, which is a study in business ethics. His article "For the Sake of My Kin and My Friends", was recently published by Fordham University Press in the volume Tradition, Values and Humanitarian Action. He has just completed another book on Jewish ethics, with the working title Old is Good: Ideas of Aging in Rabbinic Literature.

In seeking new methods of healing the seriously ill - in spirit as well as in body - Dr. Wechsler has served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Healthcare Chaplaincy, an interfaith center which provides chaplains for the major hospitals of New York City and which teaches seminary students of all faiths to administer effective pastoral care. He is a Life Trustee of the Chaplaincy.

Harvard College, BA 1965
Hebrew University, Graduate work, Department of Jewish Studies.
Studied bible with Nehama Leibowitz and Talmud with Yonah Frankel.
Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Rabbinical ordination, 1971
Jewish Theological Seminary of America, PhD, 1982