Yehuda Henkin


Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin, author of the responsa Benei Vanim, is a modern orthodox posek.
Henkin was born in Pennsylvania in 1945 and raised in Stamford, Connecticut. His father was Hillel Henkin, a Jewish educator in New Haven, Connecticut. After graduating from the Yeshivah of Flatbush High School in 1962, he studied six years with his famous grandfather, Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, from whom he received semichah, and served as the Rabbi of the Beit She'an valley before moving to Jerusalem.
He lives in Jerusalem, with his wife,, founder and head of Nishmat, the Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies for Women. His son, Rabbi Eitam Henkin, and his daughter-in-law were murdered by Palestinian terrorists on 1 October 2015.

Responsa

R. Yehuda Henkin discusses whether those who believe that the Lubavitcher Rebbe is the messiah are considered to be heretics, ruling that they are not.
He cites his grandfather R. Yosef Eliyahu Henkin that hearing Shofar and Megillah cannot be done by radio, and that therefore Kol Isha does not apply over the radio.
R. Yehudah Henkin was unsure whether this applies to hearing a woman’s voice on television.
He allows women studying Talmud.
He permits dancing on the Sabbath.
He permits a man to shake a woman's hand when offered, and vice versa.

Deferring to the Arukh HaShulkan

He cites his grandfather R. Yosef Eliyahu Henkin as considering the Aruch HaShulchan as more definitive than the Mishnah Berurah.
He has written the major objection to the concept of a partnership minyan, particularly the issue of calling women to the Torah. In an article in the EDAH journal article on the subject, he provided point-by-point halakhic counterarguments, and also said: