Rabbi Yitzchok Yagod is both the rabbi and the president of Beth Avraham, an OU charter member shul. He is passionate about building a community where all types of Jews will find a warm welcome, as well as a high standard of study and learning of the Torah. Rabbi Yagod gives shiurim 5 nights a week, and often tells his congregants, "You should always leave the Shul with more than you came in with.”

Rabbi Yagod has studied under numerous prominent rabbis, both in yeshivas and one-on-one. He started out as a student in the Mir Yeshiva from 1976 to 1979, where he studied under Rav Chaim Shmulevitz. During his time at the Mir Yeshiva, Rabbi Yagod learned safrus and was ordained as a sofer (scribe) by the High Rabbinical Court of Yerushalayim in 1978. He then learned at the Brisk Yeshiva in Yerushalayim in 1979, where he studied under Rav Berel Soloveitchik. In 1980, Rabbi Yagod went to the Lakewood Yeshiva and later spent several years in a Chassidic Kollel.

He earned his first ordination, a Chassidic smicha, in 1983 from Rav S. L. Weinberger, a well-known Chassidic Rav in Brooklyn. Rabbi Yagod then learned one-on-one with HaRav Pinchas Hirschprung zt”l, the former Chief Rabbi of Canada, for 7 years, and received his advanced ordination for halachic rulings from HaRav Hirschprung in Montreal in March of 1995. Around this time, from 1992 to 1998, he served on the boards of the Yeshiva Gedola of Montreal, and of the girls’ school Beth Jacob in the same city. Shortly thereafter, beginning in 1999 and for the next 24 years, Rabbi Yagod was a student of the respected scholar HaRav Nota Greenblatt zt”l.

Currently, Rabbi Yagod is the head of a kashrus organization, EK Kosher, which he has been running since 2011. EK Kosher (Vaad HaKashrus of Eastern Canada and Maine, website: easternkosher.com) is on the official accepted cRc list. In addition to running his own organization, he works for numerous kosher agencies, including the OU, OK, Star K, Chuf K, cRc, MK, COR, KVH, Earth Kosher, and several Chassidic agencies. He is a member of the OU/RCA, the OU, and AKO.

Rabbi Yagod is the scion of a rabbinical family. His father is a noted Talmud Chachum, as well as an expert in Gemarrah who has written scholarly books on advanced Gemarrah discussion. Rabbi Yagod's brother is a world-famous Rosh Yeshivah, and his entire family is very well-learned in Torah. Halacha and Gemarrah are Rabbi Yagod's home, and he has written Halachic Teshuvos.

Ever multitalented, Rabbi Yagod also worked for years in the field of computer science. He received his bachelor’s degree in computer science in 1986, as well as an engineering degree and certification for enterprise-wide networks in 1997.

For more information about Rabbi Yagod’s kosher certification company, EK Kosher, please visit his website here.