Hirschy Zarchi is an American rabbi andshaliach for theChabad Hasidic Jewish movement. Since 1997, he has been the founder and head of theChabad house atHarvard University, one of the largest Chabad campus operations in the United States. He is also Jewish chaplain for students and alumni of Harvard.
Zarchi was born inCrown Heights, Brooklyn in 1973. Zarchi graduated fromOholei Torah andRabbinical College of America yeshivas and receivedrabbinical ordination fromCentral Lubavitch Yeshiva in 1994.[1]
Zarchi was dispatched as ashaliach for theChabad Hasidic Jewish movement to Boston in the 1990s. Initially, he was based inHarvard Square, encouraging Jewish men to put ontefillin. In 1997, he married Elkie, and later that year they established aChabad house atHarvard University. Rabbi Zarchi became a recognized campus chaplain in 2003.[2] The Harvard Chabad dedicated a new building in 2003.[3]
In 2006, Zarchi organized a 650-studentShabbat dinner inAnnenberg Hall, the largest Shabbat dinner in the history of Harvard. The dinner was attended by the then-president of HarvardLarry Summers, who noted Harvard's legacy of discriminatoryJewish quotas.[4] Later on, Harvard Chabad began to annually host SHABBAT1000, a Shabbat dinner on campus for over 1,000 people- including students, faculty, alumni, and others. As rabbi, Zarchi has become friends with Jewish students at Harvard, includingJared Kushner andJosh Kushner.[3]
Zarchi's position was endowed with a $5 million donation in 2022. The donation would supplement the Chabad house's $9 million annual budget, one of the largest campus Chabad operations in the United States.EJewish Philanthropy described the Harvard chabad as a "citywide Jewish empire" with four Chabad center for students, four preschools, and aJewish day school.[5]
In the aftermath of the2023 Hamas attack on Israel, Zarchi and investorBill Ackman organized a showing ofBearing Witness, which showed scenes of extreme violence recorded during and after the incursion, on the Harvard campus, to approximately 150 Harvard affiliate and members of theCambridge community. The showing was the first campus audience to view the film. While Judaism generally discourages the viewing of murder, Zarchi stated that there was an exception if "it will have the effect of preserving life."[6][7]
During aHanukkah menorah lighting atWidener Library in 2023, Zarchi criticized Harvard's stance on antisemitism and described "an atmosphere of fear for Jewish students" while speaking in front of Harvard presidentClaudine Gay. Zarchi revealed that Harvard does not allow Chabad to keep the menorah displayed overnight due to fears of vandalism, which was cited by judge D.J. Stearns in a judicial opinion in one of the antisemitism lawsuits against Harvard.[8] Gay was broadly criticized during the2023 United States Congress hearings on antisemitism, for not doing enough to condemn and combat antisemitism on Harvard's campus.[9] He has advocated for Harvard "to de-recognize the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee."[10]
In 2024, theJerusalem Post named Zarchi to its "50 Most Influential Jews" list alongsideAmmiel Hirsch,Ephraim Mirvis, and Yuda Drizin for "spiritual guidance in trying times".[11]