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About
Rabbi Meir Y. Soloveichik, born July 29, 1977, in Chicago, Illinois, is a prominent American Orthodox rabbi, scholar, and public intellectual renowned for his expertise at the intersection of Jewish theology and Western philosophy. As the son of Rabbi Eliyahu Soloveichik, grandson of Rabbi Aharon Soloveichik, and great-nephew of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik—the architect of Modern Orthodoxy—he hails from one of Judaism's most distinguished rabbinic lineages originating in Lithuania and Belarus. He earned a bachelor's degree summa cum laude in Judaic Studies from Yeshiva University, rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University, a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School, and a PhD in religion from Princeton University in 2010. Soloveichik serves as an Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies and Director of the Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University, and as senior rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel in Manhattan, the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. He is also a senior fellow and scholar at the Tikvah Fund, where he hosts popular daily podcasts including Bible365 and Jerusalem365. His published works, including 'Providence and Power: Ten Portraits in Jewish Statesmanship' (2023), explore Jewish history, statesmanship, religious liberty, issues in Jewish thought and life, the relationship between Judaism and Christianity, and the limits of interfaith dialogue established by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Soloveichik's public influence extends to politics and interfaith dialogue, where he advocates for religious particularism, the compatibility of faith and freedom, and Jewish exceptionalism, while critiquing identity politics. He delivered the invocation at the 2012 Republican National Convention, testified before Congress in 2012 opposing the Affordable Care Act's (HHS) contraceptive mandate for religious employers, and was appointed by Senator Mitch McConnell to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in 2024, where he was elected Vice Chair in February 2025. He received the Canterbury Medal for Religious Liberty in 2018 from the Becket Fund. His writings appear in conservative and general interest publications like First Things, Commentary, The Wall Street Journal, The Forward, and the journal Azure. His vocal stances on religious liberty have made him a subject of debate among more liberal segments of the Jewish community. Married to Layaliza Soloveichik (née Klein), a Yale Law School graduate and Assistant U.S. Attorney, since approximately the early 2000s, they have six children and reside in New York City. In 2015, Soloveichik was named as a defendant in Shultz v. Congregation Shearith Israel, a Title VII employment discrimination lawsuit alleging adverse action via termination notice against administrative staffer Linda Shultz, which was later rescinded; the case centered on claims of religious bias in employment practices at the synagogue, with the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in 2017 that the initial termination notice constituted an adverse employment action, allowing the suit to proceed, though no further public outcomes like settlements are documented. Soloveichik's involvement was institutional as senior rabbi, with no personal allegations of misconduct. No verified information on health issues, substance history, or personal scandals exists.