The Relationship of Orthodox Jews with Believing Jews of Other Religious Ideologies and Non-Believing Jews Non Orthodox Relationships.indb 1 7/13/10 10:06 AM Chancellor of Yeshiva University, meets each year to consider major issues of concern to the Jewish community. Forum participants from throughout the world, including academicians in both Jewish and ah, Jewish educators, and Jewish communal professionals, gather in conference as a think tank to and disseminate a new and vibrant Torah literature addressing the critical issues facing Jewry today. gratefully acknowledges the support of the Joseph J. and Bertha K. Green Memorial Fund established by Morris L. Green, of blessed memory. OF 19 r10 draft 08 balanced.indd ii 9/23/2008 8:19:37 AM Non Orthodox Relationships.indb 2 7/13/10 10:06 AM The Relationship of Orthodox Jews with Believing Jews of Other Religious Ideologies and Non-Believing Jews EditEd by Adam Mintz Robert S. Hirt, Series Editor the michael scharf publication trust of the yeshiva university press new york Non Orthodox Relationships.indb 3 7/13/10 10:06 AM Copyright © 2010 yeshiva University Press Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data Orthodox Forum (21st : 2009 : yeshiva University, New york, N.y.) the relationship of Orthodox Jews with believing Jews of other religious ideologies and non-believing Jews / edited by Adam Mintz. p. cm. -- (the Orthodox Forum series) includes index. Papers presented at the Orthodox Forum 21st conference, held March 22-23, 2009 at yeshiva University, New york, N.y. iSbN 978-1-60280-140-0 1. Orthodox Judaism--Relations--Nontraditional Jews--Congresses. i. Mintz, Adam. ii. title. bM30.O78 2010 296.3’9--dc22 2010022249 Distributed by KtAV Publishing House, inc. 930 Newark Avenue Jersey City, NJ 07306 [email protected] www.ktav.com (201) 963-9524 Fax (201) 963-0102 Non Orthodox Relationships.indb 4 7/13/10 10:06 AM Contents Contributors ix Series Editor’s Preface xiii Robert S. Hirt introduction xvii Adam Mintz 1. The Relationship of Orthodox Jews with believing Jews of Other Religious ideologies and Non-believing Jews: The American Situation in Historical Perspective 1 Jonathan D. Sarna 2. Encountering the Other: birthright israel, Jewish Peoplehood, and the Opportunities and dangers of Religious Journeys 27 Sylvia Barack Fishman 3. Orthodox Educators in Non-Orthodox Jewish Educational Settings 51 Jack Bieler 4. Beyond Outreach: the Abraham Joshua Heschel School— A Case Study in inter-denominational Collaboration 85 Ahuva Halberstam 5. The American Model: internal Orthodox debate with a Focus on birthright and Other Similar Programs 131 Mark Dratch 6. The Orthodox Professional in Non-Orthodox Communal Agencies 151 Marc D. Stern Non Orthodox Relationships.indb 5 7/13/10 10:06 AM 7. Beyond the Pale? Reflections Regarding Contemporary Relations with Non-Orthodox Jews 187 Aharon Lichtenstein 8. The Halakhic Status of the Secular Jew: A Question of Public, Not Personal, Halakhah 225 Yuval Cherlow 9. Halakhic Views toward different Jews 243 Yona Reiss 10. What A difference Place Makes: Reflections on Religious-Secular divides in israel and in America 259 Jeffrey Saks 11. Relationships between Religiously Observant and Other troops in the idF: Vision Versus Reality 279 Stuart A. Cohen 12. It’s A Small, Small World: Secular Zionism through the Eyes of a Religious-Zionist Parashat HaShavua Pamphlet 313 Yoel Finkelman 13. Lessons Religious Zionism Can Learn From Modern Orthodoxy in America: Civil Marriage in israel 351 Marshall Breger Orthodox Forum twenty-First Conference List of Participants 393 Index 397 Non Orthodox Relationships.indb 6 7/13/10 10:06 AM Other VOlumes in the OrthOdOx FOrum series Rabbinic Authority and Personal Autonomy edited by Moshe Z. Sokol Jewish Tradition and the Non-Traditional Jew edited by Jacob J. Schacter Israel as a Religious Reality edited by Chaim i. Waxman Modern Scholarship in the Study of Torah: Contributions and Limitations edited by Shalom Carmy Tikkun Olam: Social Responsibility in Jewish Thought and Law edited by david Shatz, Chaim i. Waxman, and Nathan J. diament Engaging Modernity: Rabbinic Leaders and the Challenge of the Twentieth Century edited by Moshe Z. Sokol Jewish Perspectives on the Experience of Suffering edited by Shalom Carmy Jewish Business Ethics: The Firm and Its Stakeholders edited by Aaron Levine and Moses Pava Tolerance, Dissent, and Democracy: Philosophical, Historical, and Halakhic Perspectives edited by Moshe Z. Sokol Jewish Spirituality and Divine Law edited by Adam Mintz and Lawrence Schiffman Formulating Responses in an Egalitarian Age edited by Marc d. Stern Judaism, Science and Moral Responsibility edited by yitzhak berger and david Shatz The Conceptual Approach to Jewish Learning :למדות edited by yosef blau Rabbinic and Lay Communal Authority edited by Suzanne Last Stone War and Peace in the Jewish Tradition edited by Lawrence Schiffman and Joel b. Wolowelsky Gender Relationships in Marriage and Out edited by Rivkah blau Yirat Shamayim: The Awe, Reverence, and Fear of God edited by Marc d. Stern Religious Zionism Post Engagement: Future Directions edited by Chaim i. Waxman Toward a Renewed Ethic of Jewish Philanthropy edited by yossi Prager Non Orthodox Relationships.indb 7 7/13/10 10:06 AM ix Non Orthodox Relationships.indb 8 7/13/10 10:06 AM Contributors Rabbi Jack Bieler is the rabbi of the Kemp Mill Synagogue and the former assistant principal of the Hebrew Academy of Greater Washington. He has published articles on the integration of Judaism and general studies, as well as on the philosophy of Jewish education. Professor Marshall J. Breger is a professor of law at the Columbus School of Law, the Catholic University of America. dr. breger has served as a Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, Solicitor of Labor, the chief lawyer of the Labor department, and Acting Assistant Secretary for Labor Management Standards. Additionally, breger has acted as the Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States, an independent federal agency, the Alternate delegate of the U.S. to the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva, and Special Assistant to President Reagan and his liaison to the Jewish Community. Rabbi Yuval Cherlow is Rosh yeshiva of yeshivat Hesder Petach tikva. He is a graduate of yeshivat Har Etzion, a retired major in the idF, a founding member of the tzohar rabbinical organization, and a member of the israeli committee on the national list of health services and the Helsinki Committee for biomedical research involving human subjects. Rav Cherlow has published many books and articles dealing with topics in Halakhah, biblical exegesis, modern Jewish philosophy, and contemporary questions. Dr. Stuart A. Cohen is a professor of political studies at bar-ilan University, where he also chairs the academic council of bESA, the begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. dr. Cohen’s areas ix Non Orthodox Relationships.indb 9 7/13/10 10:06 AM x Contributors of academic specialization include Jewish political theory and practice, diplomatic history, military history, and civil-military relations. Rabbi Mark Dratch currently serves on the faculty of Jewish Studies at yeshiva University’s isaac breuer College of Hebraic Studies. Formerly, he was the rabbi of Shaarei Shomayim Congregation in toronto. Rabbi dratch recently founded JSafe: The Jewish Institute Supporting an Abuse Free Environment, a not-for- profit organization committed to effecting the way the Jewish community addresses issues of domestic violence and child abuse. Dr. Yoel Finkelman teaches talmud and Jewish thought at Midreshet Lindenbaum, and is director of Projects and Research at Atid. He received his Ph.d. from the department of Jewish thought at the Hebrew University. Sylvia Barack Fishman is a Professor of Contemporary Jewish Life in the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department at brandeis University, and Co-director of the Hadassah-brandeis institute. Her recent books are The Way into the Varieties of Jewishness: Double or Nothing? Jewish Families and Mixed Marriage, and Jewish Life and American Culture. Mrs. Ahuva Halberstam is the Head of School at the Abraham Joshua Heschel School: High School. Rabbi Robert S. Hirt (Series Editor of the Orthodox Forum Publications) is Vice President Emeritus of the Rabbi isaac Elchanan theological Seminary, an affiliate ofy eshiva University, and occupies the Rabbi Sidney Shoham Chair in Rabbinic and Community Leadership at the Rabbi isaac Elchanan theological Seminary. Rabbi Hirt co-edited Shimon Huberband’s critically acclaimed book on the Holocaust, Kiddush Hashem: Jewish Religious and Cultural Life in Poland During the Holocaust, and has contributed to Tradition: The Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought, and other educational publications. Non Orthodox Relationships.indb 10 7/13/10 10:06 AM Contributors xi Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein is Rosh yeshiva at yeshivat Har Etzion and the Caroline and Joseph S. Gruss institute in israel. He is a frequent contributor to books and journals of contemporary Jewish thought. He is widely regarded as a scholar and thinker and has written extensively about Jewish Law and thought. Rabbi Adam Mintz (Editor) is an adjunct professor in Jewish History at Queens College and the immediate past president of the New york board of Rabbis. He served in the pulpit rabbinate for over twenty years and is one of the founders of Kehilat Rayim Ahuvim, a Modern Orthodox congregation in New york City. Rabbi Yona Reiss is the dean of the Rabbi isaac Elchanan theological Seminary, an affiliate ofy eshiva University. Formerly, he was the director of the beth din of America in New york City. Rabbi Jeffrey Saks is the founding director of Atid, the Academy for torah initiatives and directions in Jerusalem and was previously the director of yeshivat HaMivtar in Efrat. He has published articles in Tradition, Torah U-Madda, and the Journal of Jewish Education. Rabbi Jonathan Sarna is the Joseph H.