Rabbis, Jewish and community leaders, friends, OU board and staff members, and family gathered on Tuesday, September 15th in New York to honor the memory of Rabbi Moshe Hauer, zt”l, former executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, as his first yahrzeit approaches. Many others joined the event, organized by the OU, via livestream.
Rabbi Hauer, who had served as EVP at the OU since 2020, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 60 over Shemini Atzeret last year. His passing came just hours after the remaining living 20 Israeli hostages, taken on Oct. 7, 2023, were returned from Gaza. Keeping the plight of the hostages in the public eye was just one aspect of the public advocacy work Rabbi Hauer engaged in on behalf of the OU and the Jewish community, as he sought to bring Torah values to the world and increase unity among Jews.
“Over the past year, we have felt Rabbi Moshe Hauer, zt”l’s absence in countless moments, even as we continue to feel his presence in the Torah he taught, the relationships he built, and the values he embodied,” said Rabbi Josh Joseph, CEO of the Orthodox Union, who worked closely with Rabbi Hauer over the years as the two led the OU together. “Rabbi Hauer had a rare ability to make every person feel seen and every challenge worthy of his full heart and attention. The many lives he touched, throughout our community and far beyond it, remain a testament to a life devoted to Torah, to Klal Yisrael, and to caring deeply for others. On his first yahrzeit, we remember not only how profoundly we miss him, but how enduringly his wisdom, warmth, and example continue to guide and inspire us.”
An emotional video played at the event featured clips of Rabbi Hauer throughout his years at the OU, speaking about his love of Torah, dedication to prayer, and how to foster more unity among the Jewish people, especially amid rising antisemitism. “The study of Torah is equal to everything,” he said in one clip. “It stimulates everything. It grows us. The Torah spoke, as our sages teach us, in 600,000 voices when the Jewish people stood around Har Sinai. And there’s so many different unique languages of Torah. Torah belongs to everyone. And it’s our responsibility, all of us, to make sure that everybody has their portion of that precious inheritance.”
Speakers at the event recalled how diligently Rabbi Hauer worked to spread Torah, create unity, and stand up for the rights and values of the Jewish community and of Israel. Rabbi Hauer’s son, Rabbi Shlomo Hauer, quoted Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, a prominent Torah scholar and student of the Vilna Gaon: “This is what man is about. He wasn’t created for himself. Rather, he was created to do for others in any which way that he can.”
“This is the way my father lived, literally,” Rabbi Shlomo Hauer said. “He managed to make time for every individual,” he recalled.“And when he was able to connect with people one-on-one, that gave him the greatest pleasure,” he said. “He always made sure not to hold back when he had something positive to say about someone or to someone, even when that meant making phone calls at hectic times before holidays, or writing letters to authors of books he read to compliment their work.”
Rabbi Yaakov Neuburger, Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University’s RIETS and Rav of Congregation Beth Abraham,shares how Rabbi Hauer always displayed clarity for Torah values when he spoke to others and when he spoke publicly, drawing a parallel to Moshe Rabbenu, who also always had a clear message as he led Am Yisrael in the desert.
“He mastered the ability to be public, to be a leader and to be self-effacing at the same time,” Rabbi Neuburger said. This clarity and commitment to working for the greater good inspired many people to work with Rabbi Hauer and come together to accomplish things, even when they were difficult.
“Whenever Rabbi Hauer called, you knew it was as a shaliach of Klal Yisrael, you can’t turn Klal Yisrael down,” Rabbi Neuburger said.