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For a Number of Years, the Va'ad Halacha Had Been Dormant

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For a Number of Years, the Va'ad Halacha Had Been Dormant Committee Reports Submitted in conjunction with the 48th Annual Convention of The Rabbinical Council of America April 29th - May 1st 2007 Contents 1. Va’ad Halacha, submitted by Asher Bush, Chairman, p. 1 2. Tradition, submitted by Shalom Carmy, Editor, p. 1 3. RCA/OU Joint Committee on Inter-Religious Affairs, submitted by Fabian Schonfeld, Chairman, p. 2 4. Military Chaplaincy Committee, submitted by Ira Kronenberg, Chairman, p. 3 5. Pension Board, submitted by William Herskowitz, Chairman, p. 3 6. Semicha Standards Committee, submitted by Moshe Kletenik, Chairman, p. 4 Va’ad Halacha, submitted by Asher Bush, Chairman For a number of years, the Va'ad Halacha had been dormant. Starting under the presidency of Rabbi Kenneth Auman, and progressing under Rabbi Dale Polakoff, the Va'ad has taken a new form and gained new life. The purpose of the Va'ad is threefold. First, to address Sh'eilos asked by the RCA itself. These would typically be matters of organizational policies that involve issues in Halacha. Second, to address Sh'eilos asked by the OU (not relating to Kashrus) in the RCA's capacity as the Halachic authority of the OU. In this regard, RCA officers and members of the Va'ad have met with OU leadership at their behest, and we are presently addressing a serious matter of concern to the OU. Third, to address the Bayos Ha'zman. Last summer, the Va’ad Halacha issued a ruling and paper on the prohibition of smoking. For most of this past year the Va'ad Halacha has been reviewing and evaluating many of the issues related to organ transplantation. This has included consultations with many of the leading Rabbinic and medical authorities both in American and in Israel. It is hoped that a ruling and supporting documents will be issued shortly. Hopefully this can be followed by a guide to many of the end of life questions that Rabbonim and laymen face regularly. We have recently been approached to address several issues of community concern. The first one is the issue of Mesira, especially as it relates to cases of abuse. The second is the idea of creating a guide to help develop uniform standards for community Eruvin. If Chaverim have issues they would like to see addressed, please speak with the chairman of the Va'ad Halacha. The working of the Va'ad is somewhat different than in past years. The Va'ad Halacha itself consists of RCA chaverim (listed above) who regularly deal with the world of p'sak Halacha in their roles as rabbonim and m'chanchim. Additionally, we have a Va'ad HaPoskim consisting of senior Roshei Yeshiva and Poskim who have agreed to serve as resources for the Va'ad Halacha. They are Rav J. David Bleich, Rav Dovid Cohen, Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, Rav Michael Rosensweig, Rav Gedalia Schwartz, Rav Hershel Schachter and Rav Mordechai Willig. Additionally, Rav Zalman Nechemia Goldberg will be consulted as well. Depending on the issue, the exact roles of the Va'ad Halacha and the Va'ad Ha'poskim and their interplay will (and already have) vary, but the ultimate responsibility for each decision will lie with the Va'ad Halacha itself. Tradition, submitted by Shalom Carmy, Editor Tradition, a Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought, appears four times a year. In the past year, we have come out on time, with most issues longer than our “official” 96 pages. We have continued our regular features: R. Bleich’s column on current halakhic questions: Prof. Leiman’s historical column; R. Carmy’s editor’s column. We have also produced two special issues: Fall 2006 commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Rav’s influential Kol Dodi Dofek; Winter 2006 was devoted to war in Judaism. Marc Stern served as special editor for the latter issue; Spring 2007 featured a symposium on Sex Selection edited by Dr. Wolowelsky and Dr. Grazi. If you peruse recent and forthcoming issues, you will see work by established figures in the RCA and in the orthodox world, both in North America and in Israel, together with the efforts of younger rabbanim, academicians and intellectual leaders. Rabbi Reuven Bulka is serving as special editor of a book length issue in memory of our esteemed past editor, Rabbi Walter Wurzburger. We look forward to this substantial contribution to the study of ethics and philosophy as an appropriate tribute to a major Orthodox thinker. I am also pleased to report a substantial expansion of our Editorial Board. Rabbi Aaron Levine is now associate Editor, with special responsibilities in Halakha. Prof. Yaakov Elman and Rabbi Avraham Walfish add depth in Rabbinic and any other subject they touch. I am particularly pleased with the addition of several younger talmidei hakhamim whose vigor, resourcefulness and creativity bode well for our future: Rabbi Yitzchak Blau; Erica Brown; Rabbi Mark Gottlieb; Rabbi Yamin Levy; Rabbi Yona Reiss; Rabbi Jeffrey Saks; Rabbi Reuven Ziegler. The new board has also been helpful in broadening Tradition’s financial base of support (the Tradition Fellows) whose help is much appreciated. Tradition is an intellectual journal of Orthodoxy, aiming to present sophisticated, erudite and relevant discussions of the questions facing contemporary Orthodoxy. Our audience is not only the entire Orthodox community; we are read outside that community, and also reach non-Jewish readers. Much of our editorial activity consists of identifying contributors, developing the younger generation and identifying questions of significance for our community. The Associate Editors, other Board members and when needed, outside referees, review submissions and often work with promising authors on their revisions. The present RCA leadership, most notably Rabbi Herring, has continued to recognize Tradition’s need for autonomy, while making productive suggestions about directions in which Tradition can highlight questions of broad interest to the RCA community. One such area is the recent expansion of our online activities. With Rabbi Myles Brody assisting us, we hope to offer and expanded book review section, mainly informational rather than exhaustively critical in nature. Our goal is to make it easier for chaverim and others to become aware of new publications in various domains of interest. I would like to hear suggestions from haverim about more effective uses of our online capacities and regarding subjects that you and your congregants, would like to hear more about. RCA/OU Joint Committee on Inter-Religious Affairs, submitted by Fabian Schonfeld, Chairman Our committee has had meetings with members of the Catholic Clergy over a long period of time. After the demise of Cardinal O'Connor, the chairmanship of the Catholic Delegation has been filled by Bishop Murphy of Rockville Center. The meetings are co-chaired by Bishop Murphy and me. Much of the discussions at the meetings deals with the question of Federal and State aid to education in the form of school vouchers. Progress unfortunately is slow because of the strong opposition of many political leaders, especially in the Democratic Party. Other topics include relations of Israel and the Vatican and our role in that area. Our committee is in touch with the Israeli Government and Embassy in Washington in order to smooth some of the sensitive areas. In all of our discussions we are constantly mindful of the position of the RCA as laid down by Rav Soleivitchik not to engage in theological discussions. That is the position which the Catholic leadership understands and accepts fully. We are active participants in all meetings and discussions at IJCIC where we have dealt with many sensitive problems, including the proposed Beatification of Pope Pius XII. At the present time discussions with the Vatican continue to deal with sensitive and delicate subjects. Obviously views within IJCIC are divided and no particular decision has been made. 2 I want to express our gratitude to our members, especially to Rabbi Dr. David Berger whose knowledge and wisdom has been a great help. IJCIC is chaired by two outstanding Jewish leaders, Rabbi David Rosen and Rabbi Dr. Israel Singer. In all of these discussions, both local and international, we are conscious of the principles laid down for us by Rav Soleivitchik as mentioned earlier. I wish to note the work of Howard Beigelman who acts as secretary and facilitator of our meetings. That work was done for a number of years by Betty Ehrenberg who recently left the OU but remains an active member of our committee. We should also note the very important work that was done by Rabbi Dr. Leon Feldman until his retirement. I wish to thank our President, Rabbi Dale Polakoff for his advice and Rabbi Joseph Karasik who has been a member of the committee since its inception. We also wish to mention the presence and participation of Rabbi Basil Herring, and Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb has been of tremendous help in our deliberations, as has Nathan Diament. Finally, we note the retirement of Dr. Gene Fisher from his important position of Secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He has been a true and sage friend both on a personal and professional level. We wish him well, and hope that whoever will be appointed to fill his position will follow in his footsteps. Military Chaplaincy Committee, submitted by Ira Kronenberg, Chairman The Military Chaplaincy committee had a busy year. We continued to interview candidates for the military. One of our candidates, Rabbi Andrew Shulman finished the Army’s Basic Chaplains class in April and will be going to Fort Stewart. He will be deployed to Iraq in the fall. Currently, CH Shmuel Felzenberg is in Afghanistan. CH David Goldstrum is also scheduled to be deployed to Iraq this fall.
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