Yitzchak Schochet
Rabbi Yitzchok Schochet is an Orthodox rabbi in England.
He was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to the family of an unbroken chain of rabbis stretching back for two centuries. His father was Rabbi Jacob Immanuel Schochet, a Chabad rabbi and scholar. He is married and has five children.
Schochet was educated in Toronto, London and New York.[1] He received his semichah (rabbinic ordination) in 1988, and a master's degree in Jewish Studies from the University College London in 1994. In 2018 he qualified as an accredited mediator and became an associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
He was Rabbi of Richmond Synagogue from 1991 to 1993 before being offered the position as rabbi of the Mill Hill Synagogue, at the age of 28, in 1993 increasing the membership from 450 families to now in excess of 1800.
Having previously served as assistant principal of Oholei Torah Boys School in Brooklyn, NY, and having taught Advanced Jewish Studies at the Jews Free School in London, he currently serves as Hon. Principal of the Etz Chaim Jewish Primary School in Mill Hill.
He was mentioned by the Jewish press as a possible contender for the position of Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, but in an article published in The Jewish Chronicle he stated that he would not apply, because as a Lubavitch follower, his application would be overlooked.[2]
Schochet wrote a weekly column in the London-based Jewish News for 20 years. He was formerly Diary Rabbi for The Guardian newspaper and has featured in most national broadsheets including The Times, Daily Mail and also Time Magazine International. He also serves as a frequent panellist on the BBC's Sunday Morning television program, "The Big Questions," and writes a column in London-based The Jewish Weekly. In 2018 he was recruited as part of a panel to write in the American based Jewish Press. He lectures internationally and in 2019 he was invited to address 6000 Rabbis and guests as keynote speaker at the International Chabad Conference in New York.
He blogs at RabbiSchochet.com, which was launched in September 2016.