Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future THE BENJAMIN AND ROSE BERGER TORAH TO-GO® Established by Rabbi Hyman and Ann Arbesfeld March 2017 • Purim 5777 A Special Edition in Honor of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary Chag HaSemikhah 5777 CELEBRATING THE NEXT GENERATION OF RABBINIC LEADERS Dedicated in loving memory of Phyllis Pollack לע״נ פעשא יטא בת יהודה ז״ל by Dr. Meir and Deborah Pollack Aliza, Racheli, Atara, Yoni, Ilana and Ari 1 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series • Purim 5777 We thank the following synagogues which have pledged to be Pillars of the Torah To-Go® project Beth David Synagogue Green Road Synagogue Young Israel of West Hartford, CT Beachwood, OH Century City Los Angeles, CA Beth Jacob Congregation The Jewish Center Beverly Hills, CA New York, NY Young Israel of Bnai Israel – Ohev Zedek Young Israel Beth El of New Hyde Park New Hyde Park, NY Philadelphia, PA Borough Park Koenig Family Foundation Young Israel of Congregation Brooklyn, NY Ahavas Achim Toco Hills Atlanta, GA Highland Park, NJ Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst Young Israel of Congregation Cedarhurst, NY Shaarei Tefillah West Hartford West Hartford, CT Newton Centre, MA Richard M. Joel, President and Bravmann Family University Professor, Yeshiva University Rabbi Dr. Kenneth Brander, Vice President for University and Community Life, Yeshiva University Rabbi Yaakov Glasser, David Mitzner Dean, Center for the Jewish Future Rabbi Menachem Penner, Max and Marion Grill Dean, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary Rabbi Robert Shur, Series Editor Rabbi Joshua Flug, General Editor Rabbi Michael Dubitsky, Content Editor Andrea Kahn, Copy Editor Copyright © 2016 All rights reserved by Yeshiva University Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future 500 West 185th Street, Suite 419, New York, NY 10033 • [email protected] • 212.960.0074 This publication contains words of Torah. Please treat it with appropriate respect. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Paul Glasser at 212.960.5852 or [email protected]. 2 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series • Purim 5777 Table of Contents Purim 2017/5777 Dedicated in loving memory of Phyllis Pollack לע״נ פעשא יטא בת יהודה ז״ל by Dr. Meir and Deborah Pollack Aliza, Racheli, Atara, Yoni, Ilana and Ari The Menahel and the Manhig: Two Models of Leadership Rabbi Yaakov Glasser . ....................................................................... Page 8 Open to Embracing Jews; Open to Embracing the Mesorah Rabbi Menachem Penner . ....................................................................... Page 11 A Walking Sefer Torah Rabbi Joshua Flug . ...................................................................... Page 14 The Role of Vashti in the Purim Story Deena Rabinovich, EdD .................................................................................. Page 19 From the Musmakhim in Chag Hasemikhah 2017/5777 Esther and Bas Paraoh: Reaching for What is Out of Reach Rabbi David Block ........................................................................................ Page 26 Our Hamantaschen’s Forgotten Meaning Rabbi Tuvia Brander ..................................................................................... Page 28 Self-Nullification through Inebriation Rabbi Michael Weingarten ............................................................................... Page 32 Purim: The Simcha of Satiation Rabbi Dani Zuckerman .................................................................................. Page 34 3 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series • Purim 5777 Introduction It is with great excitement that we present to you this of the contemporary Jewish world. They have been taught, special edition of the Benjamin and Rose Berger Purim trained, and empowered to educate, and lead the next To-Go in conjunction with the celebration of the RIETS generation of our community. Chag HaSemikhah taking place on Sunday, March 19th, This special edition of Torah to Go pays tribute to this 2017, the 21st of Adar 5777. The opportunities for Jewish milestone by sharing Torah insights from scholars of communal engagement have never been broader, and the Yeshiva University, and some of the recent musmakhim challenges to the continuity and vibrancy of the Jewish themselves. Please join us, as we wish our musmakhim people have never been greater. The Musmakhim of RIETS in their journey to inspire the future of the Jewish חזק ואמץ are refined Torah scholars who appreciate the complexity people. Rabbi Dr. Kenneth Brander Rabbi Menachem Penner Rabbi Yaakov Glasser Vice President for University and Max and Marion Grill Dean, David Mitzner Dean, Community Life, Yeshiva University Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary YU Center for the Jewish Future THE RIETS • The Marcos and Adina Katz Kollel and Jewish educators, led by Rabbi for prospective teachers and rabbinic Michael Rosensweig. SEMIKHAH scholars, led by Rabbi Hershel Schachter. • The YU RIETS Israel Kollel in PROGRAM • The Rabbi Norman Lamm Kollel Jerusalem for chaver, semikhah and L’Hora’ah (Yadin Yadin) to train post-semikhah students, led by Rabbi The Rabbi Joseph B. scholars for the role of poskim, led by Dovid Miller. Soloveitchik Semikhah Program Rabbis J. David Bleich, Yona Reiss and offers a four-year program • Community kollelim give our Mordechai Willig. rabbinical students an opportunity of Torah study, professional • The Ludwig Jesselson Chaver Kollel to engage in communal learning, and training and fieldwork. Talmidim for those with a background in Talmud year-round kollelim in Chicago and develop expertise in Talmudic planning to enter other professions. Toronto reach thousands of people study while surveying a breadth • The Bella and Harry Wexner Kollel with a plethora of classes and dynamic of halakhic topics unmatched in Elyon combines intensive Torah learning programs. the world of yeshivot. with courses in professional skills, led by • The Rabbi Jacob H. Kupietzky Kollelim Rabbi Mordechai Willig. Memorial Program for the Study of Kollel programs allow students • The Israel Henry Beren Institute for Kodshim for post-semichah study of the to devote all their energies to the Higher Talmudic Studies (Hamachon texts and concepts of the Talmudic order study of Talmud and halakha. Ha-Gavohah Le’Talmud) for scholars of Kodshim not generally covered in the regular semicha studies curriculum, led Each program is designed who will become future roshei yeshiva by Rabbi David Horwitz. for students with distinct educational goals, whether in Jewish education, the synagogue rabbinate, Jewish scholarship or other pursuits both in and out of Avodat Hakodesh. 4 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series • Purim 5777 Saluting The Members of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary Chag Hasemikhah 5777 Rabbi Moshe Abrams Rabbi Yakov Danishefsky Rabbi Dovi Hochbaum Rabbi Alon Meltzer Rabbi Elliot Schrier Pittsburgh, PA Bergenfield, NJ West Hempstead, NY Auckland, New Zealand Woodmere, NY Rabbi Joshua Abramson Rabbi Yoni Danzger Rabbi Michael Hoenig Rabbi Yoni Miller Rabbi David Schwartz Dallas, TX Woodmere, NY Teaneck, NJ Jerusalem, Israel Staten Island, NY Rabbi Arieh Ackerman Rabbi Joshua Elsant Rabbi Andrew Israeli Rabbi Ari Mirzoeff Rabbi Moshe Schwartz Highland Park, NJ Woodmere, NY West Orange, NJ Jamaica Estates, NY New York, NY Rabbi Gershon Albert Rabbi Daniel Elsant Rabbi Yossi Jacobs Rabbi Steven Nemetz Rabbi Shaul Seidler-Feller Montreal, QB Woodmere, NY Kew Gardens Hills, NY Vancouver, BC Los Angeles, CA Rabbi Jason Allen Rabbi Yoel Epstein Rabbi Michael Kahn Rabbi Yechiel Neuburger Rabbi Ely Shestack Baltimore, MD New York, NY Skokie, IL Teaneck, NJ Bergenfield, NJ Rabbi Avi Anderson Rabbi Matthew Faigen Rabbi Raphael Karlin Rabbi Alex Ozar Rabbi Mordechai New York, NY Pittsburgh, PA Silver Spring, MD St. Louis, MO Shichtman Rabbi Jared Anstandig Rabbi Natan Farber Rabbi Joshua Klein Rabbi Elchanan Poupko Baltimore, MD West Bloomfield, MI Cedarhurst, NY Concord, CA Jerusalem, Israel Rabbi Moshe Spira Rabbi Adam Ariel Rabbi Ari Federgrun Rabbi Nuriel Klinger Rabbi Mordy Prus Atlanta, GA Saint Louis, MO Holliswood, NY Columbus, OH Brooklyn, NY Rabbi David Stein Rabbi Mosheh Aziz Rabbi Roy Feldman Rabbi Mordechai Rabbi Ari Pruzansky Chicago, IL Great Neck, NY Bayside, NY Kornbluth Teaneck, NJ Rabbi Dovid Strauss Rabbi William I. Balk Rabbi Shaya First Teaneck, NJ Rabbi Yitzy Radner New York, NY Cleveland, OH Teaneck, NJ Rabbi Yosef Kornbluth Detroit, MI Rabbi Yaakov Taubes Rabbi Eliezer Barany Rabbi Caleb Fischer Teaneck, NJ Rabbi Moshe Rapps Teaneck, NJ Hollywood, FL Columbus, OH Rabbi Yehuda Kravetz Teaneck, NJ Rabbi Sam Taylor Rabbi Sammy Bergman Rabbi Aaron Fleksher Fair Lawn, NJ Rabbi Sam Reinstein London, UK Elizabeth, NJ Passaic, NJ Rabbi Shmuel Kresch Teaneck, NJ Rabbi Yosef Shmuel Haim Rabbi Jacob Berman Rabbi Noam Friedman Southfield, MI Rabbi Alvin Reinstein Venouziou Edison, NJ Teaneck, NJ Rabbi Ben Kurzer Bronx, NY Los Angeles, CA Rabbi David Block Rabbi Adam Friedman London, UK Rabbi Jared Rosenfeld Rabbi Eli Wagner West Hempstead, NY New York, NY Rabbi Ari Lamm Scarsdale, NY Woodmere, NY Rabbi Jonathan Bloom Rabbi Jonathan Fruchter West Hempstead, NY Rabbi Itamar Rosensweig Rabbi Moshe Watson Fairlawn, NJ Queens, NY Rabbi Michael