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Rabbi Dov Linzer (Hebrew: דב נתן לינזר; born September 16, 1966) is the President and Rabbinic Head (Rosh yeshiva) of the Modern Orthodoxy Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Yeshiva in Riverdale, New York. He is a teacher, lecturer, podcaster, and author.
He has a BA in philosophy from the University of Maryland, Semikhah from the Israeli Rabbinate and is a doctoral candidate in religion at Columbia University. He is an alumnus of Yeshivat Har Etzion and Yeshiva University's Gruss Kollel Elyon. Rabbi Linzer has been a scholar-in-residence in synagogues across the United States, and has published in numerous Talmudic journals and Jewish newspapers. Previously, he headed the Boca Raton Kollel, one of the first Modern Orthodox kollels, for the first two-and-a-half years of its existence.
In 2011, Newsweek ranked him among the 50 most prominent rabbis in the United States, stating that "Linzer's students now hold some of the most prominent positions in shuls and Hillels all over the country" and that his school's "alumni will undoubtedly alter the fabric of Modern Orthodoxy".
In 2008, Linzer received the prestigious Avi Chai Fellowship, awarded to emerging communal and educational leaders.
In 2008, Linzer's Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, together with JOFA and the Drisha Institute sponsored a conference entitled "Demystifying Sex and Teaching Halacha: A Kallah (Jewish Bridal) Teacher's Workshop," to address issues of sex and sexuality into classes given to Orthodox brides prior to their wedding.
Linzer delivers a daily Daf Yomi class to men and women, available on iTunes and YouTube.
Linzer, together with his wife, Devorah Zlochower, has been outspoken about the Orthodox community's responsibility to address children of special needs in its schools, Synagogue and communal institutions. At Linzer's Chovevei Torah, rabbinical students receive special training in inclusion for people with physical, developmental and learning Disability.
In 2010, a paper commissioned by the Rabbinical Council of America voiced serious reservations as to the validity of Brainstem death as the Jewish legal definition of death. The rejection of this definition would make almost all organ-transplants forbidden by Halakha. Linzer authored a "Rabbinic Statement Regarding Organ Donation and Brain Death", reaffirming the legitimacy of the brain-death definition and critiquing those who would be prepared to receive organs but refuse to donate them. This statement was signed by over 100 rabbis, including some of the most prominent Modern Orthodox rabbis in the U.S. and Israel. The RCA subsequently backed away from the implications of its paper. The Agudath Israel of America then issued a statement which affirmed the halakhic validity of the original 2010 paper commissioned by the RCA as reflecting the position of "a majority of major poskim today". This, in turn, prompted the journal Tradition to publish a philosophical analysis of the merits of both Rabbi Linzer's and the Agudath Israel of America's respective statements.
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