Shmuel Kamenetsky

Shmuel Kamenetsky (born 12 November 1924) is an American Haredi rabbi. He is the co-founder and rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia. He is also a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages).

Biography
Kamenetsky was born in Tytuvėnai, Lithuania to Yaakov Kamenetsky, then that town's rabbi. After the family's emigration in 1937, he attended Eitz Chaim Day Schools in Toronto, then studied at Ner Israel Rabbinical College under his father's cousin, Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman. He went on to study at Lakewood Yeshiva, becoming a primary student of Aharon Kotler, from whom he received rabbinic ordination.

Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia
In the mid-1950s, as part of the Lakewood Yeshiva's effort to establish out-of-town yeshivas, Kamenetsky and Dov Schwartzman founded the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia at 3003 Berks Street in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood. Rav Shalom Schneiderman and Rav Moishele Lipshitz, "The Philadelphia Rebbe," were among those who were instrumental in the yeshiva's establishment. In 1956, Schwartzman departed to open his own yeshiva in Israel, and Kamenetsky called upon Elya Svei to serve as co-rosh yeshiva. This arrangement continued until Svei's death in March 2009.

Kamenetsky is a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel of America and serves on the rabbinical board of organizations including Chinuch Atzmai (Torah Schools for Israel), Torah Umesorah, the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation, and the Association for Jewish Outreach Professionals (AJOP).

Personal
Kamenetsky's wife, Temi, was the daughter of Mordechai Brooks, a cantor. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and died on January 10, 2022.

In 2023, Kamenetsky was hospitalized after suffering a stroke. After being released to a rehabilitation facility, he developed pneumonia and was re-hospitalized.