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Principal Emeritus

Rabbi Lookstein with group

Rabbi Haskel Lookstein '49

Headshot of Rabbi Haskel Lookstein

Rabbi Haskel Lookstein

Principal Emeritus
x5650
RHL@ramaz.org

Rabbi Haskel Lookstein '49 served as the Rabbi of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun from 1958 through 2015 and as Principal of the Ramaz School from 1966-2015. His relationship continues with both institutions, where he now serves as Rabbi Emeritus and Principal Emeritus. He is the Joseph H. Lookstein Professor of Homiletics at Yeshiva University where he has been teaching since 1979. He also serves as a Vice President of the Beth Din of America, and is a member of the Board of Directors of UJA Federation of New York.

Rabbi Lookstein is also a commissioner of the New York City Human Rights Commission. He has served as President of the New York Board of Rabbis, Chairman of the National Rabbinic Cabinet of UJA, and President of the Synagogue Council of America.

Rabbi Lookstein, a 1949 graduate of the Ramaz School, received his B.A. from Columbia College, and his Master’s Degree in Medieval Jewish History and PhD in Modern Jewish History from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University. He was ordained by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Dr. Samuel Belkin as a graduate of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary in 1958. Married to Audrey in 1959, the Looksteins are blessed with eight children and children-in-law, nineteen grandchildren and grandchildren-in-law, and three great-grandchildren.

The Rabbi’s doctoral dissertation was published in 1985 under the title Were We Our Brothers’ Keepers: The Public Response of American Jews to the Holocaust 1938-1944. Most recently, his biography under the title Rav Chesed was published by Ktav Publishing Company.

In his non-professional life, he is a rabid rooter for the Mets, Giants, Knicks, and Rangers in addition to being an avid tennis player.