Rabbi Yeshayahu Rotter z”l

Rabbi Yeshayahu Rotter, owner and chief editor of the news site Rotter.Net, passed away last night at his home in Haifa. He had suffered from heart and other health issues in recent years. Medical personnel tried to resuscitate him but were unsuccessful.

Rabbi Dr. Rotter was born in 1953 and grew up in Haifa. He learned at the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak and the Chevron Yeshiva in Yerushalayim, and he received semichah from Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l, before serving in the IDF. He received a doctorate in Jewish philosophy at Boston University and earned a BA and an MBA from Yozmot College.

Rotter.net is pa most popular news site in Israel, founded in 1997 by Noam Rotter, a son of Dr. Rotter, when he was just 12 years old. The site’s scoops section is fed by its many users.

Rabbi Dr. Rotter set the gold standard for fearless journalism , and over the years he ignored censorship requirements, using only his own sound judgment regarding what to publish and what to block.

A community of citizen journalists developed around the site, serving both as news gatherers and as harsh critics of dishonest or self-serving items. The site has maintained great popularity.

Rabbi Rotter served as rov of the N’vei Sha’anan area of Haifa and served as a rebbi at Yavneh High School.

Yehi zichro boruch.

{Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel}