1 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series• Adar 5774 Richard M. Joel, President and Bravmann Family University Professor, Yeshiva University Rabbi Kenneth Brander, Vice President for University and Community Life, Yeshiva University and The David Mitzner Dean, Center for the Jewish Future Rabbi Menachem Penner, Acting Dean, RIETS Rabbi Joshua Flug, General Editor Rabbi Michael Dubitsky, Editor Andrea Kahn, Copy Editor Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved by Yeshiva University Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future 500 West 185th Street, Suite 413, New York, NY 10033 •
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[email protected]. 2 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series• Adar 5774 Table of Contents Purim 2014/5774 Foreword Rabbi Kenneth Brander . Page4 Introduction Rabbi Menachem Penner . Page5 Semikhah: Then and Now Rabbi Hershel Schachter . Page12 The Semikhah Controversy of the 1500’s Rabbi Dr. David Horwitz . Page 16 From the musmakhim in Chag Hasemikhah 2014/5774 Rav Kook’s Purim Rabbi Yosef Bronstein. Page 25 The King’s Party and the Human Appetite for Control Rabbi Noah Cheses . Page 29 Hope Amidst Despair Rabbi Reuven Garrett . Page 32 What It Means To Be a Jew Rabbi Chesky Gewirtz . Page 35 Purim Masquerade: Unmasking the Origins Rabbi Yosef Sharbat . Page 38 Taanit Esther: Giving Voice to Silenced Women Rabbi Jeremy Stern . Page 42 3 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series• Adar 5774 Foreword The holiday of Purim and the Book of Esther have several unique features that make this book of Tanakh and this holiday distinct from all others: 1.