Helfgot is the
rabbi of Congregation Netivot Shalom, an
Orthodox congregation in
Teaneck, New Jersey. He served as president of the
International Rabbinic Fellowship. Helfgot has taught at the
Drisha Institute for Jewish Education, the
Frisch School, the
Ma'ayanot Yeshiva High School, and the
Torah Academy of Bergen County, currently teaching at
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and
SAR High School, where he is also a department chair. He has served or continues to serve on the steering committee of the Orthodox Forum, as the plenum of the Orthodox Caucus, and on the board of the Association of Modern Orthodox Day Schools. Helfgot has published articles in various journals such as
Tradition,
Tehumin,
Jewish Action, Ten-Daat, Beit Yitzchak,
Megadim, Alon Shvut, Or HaMizrach, The Orthodox Forum Series,
The Jewish Week, The
Jewish Standard, and Hamevaser. In July 2010, as a response to the December 2009 panel held at
Yeshiva University under the title "Being Gay in the Modern Orthodox World", Helfgot published an online "Statement of Principles on the Place of Jews with a Homosexual Orientation in Our Community" which garnered hundreds of signatures. In February 2019, a three quarters majority of the
Rabbinical Council of Bergen County's (RCBC) board voted, after meeting twice, to amend its bylaws in order to remove Helfgot and Netivot Shalom from its affiliation over his hiring of a female rabbinic intern from
Yeshivat Maharat. Helfgot, who was present at both meetings and addressed the council, issued a statement both praising the RCBC as an institution and expressing his "disagreement and disappointment" with its decision. The RCBC and Helfgot have since come to an agreement, with him and his synagogue remaining members in good standing with the organization. == Personal life ==