DOCSLIB.ORG

ABOUT RABBI GORDON TUCKER Rabbi Gordon Tucker Is a Senior Fellow at the Shalom Name(S): Hartmann Institute, North America

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
ABOUT RABBI GORDON TUCKER Rabbi Gordon Tucker Is a Senior Fellow at the Shalom Name(S): Hartmann Institute, North America REGISTRATION ABOUT RABBI GORDON TUCKER Rabbi Gordon Tucker is a Senior Fellow at the Shalom Name(s): Hartmann Institute, North America. He has enjoyed a long and distinguished career. He obtained a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, a Ph.D. from Princeton, and Friday, January 25, 2019 Rabbinic Ordination from the JTS. He served as Senior Shabbat dinner ($36/Person) Rabbi at Temple Israel Center of White Plains from 1994 # attending to 2018. Rabbi Tucker has influenced Jewish policy, serving as a member of the Rabbinical Assembly Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, as a White House Fellow, and Saturday, January 26, 2019 as an assistant to U.S. Attorney Benjamin R. Civiletti. Kiddush lunch and lecture (no charge) Rabbi Tucker is a prolific author of many books, including featuring # attending Heavenly Torah, Torah for its Intended Purpose, and a Rabbi Gordon Tucker Evening lecture and dessert reception ($10/person) new commentary on Pirkei Avot. # attending Pirkei Avot: Sunday, January 27, 2019 A Timeless Guide Brunch and discussion (no charge) # attending for Jews, Total registration/donation amount: $ for Humanity TO REGISTER Visit wjcenter.org/SIR or complete both sides of this form and return with payment by Friday, January 11, 2019: Westchester Jewish Center Palmer and Rockland Avenues CENTER Mamaroneck, New York 10543 WESTCHESTER JEWISH CENTER JEFFREY SEGELMAN Rabbi ADIR YOLKUT Assistant Rabbi ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ETHAN GOLDBERG Cantor Call WJC at 914-698-2960, or email: [email protected] Palmer & Rockland Avenues WESTCHESTERJEWISH FIND YOUR CENTER DONATION INFORMATION Pirkei Avot: A Timeless Guide Name(s): for Jews, for Humanity A weekend filled with learning, Email: inspiration and community. Telephone: Please support the WJC Scholar-in-Residence Program SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE The Scholar-in-Residence Program is solely RABBI GORDON TUCKER supported by donations. Your contribution is vital to Adult Education at WJC. Friday, January 25, 2019 Thank you for your generous support. 6:00pm Friday Night Service 7:00pm Community Dinner (Per Couple) 8:00pm Lecture/Discussion: The Birth Certificate of Rabbinic Judaism DONATION LEVELS o 9:00pm Oneg Shabbat/Dessert Ambassador’s Circle $540 Includes all events plus private dinner with Rabbi Tucker, space limited Saturday, January 26, 2019 9:30am Morning Services/Sermon: How Much Torah from Sinai? o Benefactor $360 12:15pm Kiddush Lunch Includes all events except private dinner 1:00pm Discussion: Who is Wise, Strong, Rich, and Honorable? o Patron $180 6:00pm Private Dinner and Discussion with Rabbi Tucker Includes all events except private dinner & Shabbat dinner Ambassador’s Circle only; space is limited 8:00pm Lecture/Dessert Reception: What’s Mine is Mine and o Sponsor $126 What’s Yours is Yours: Inside the Line of the Law o Donor $72 Sunday, January 27, 2019 o Other $ 10:00am Brunch/Discussion: Ethics: Is it About Right Actions or Good Character? ADULT EDUCATION COMMITTEE CHAIRS Myra Glajchen, [email protected] Karen Everett, [email protected] wjcenter.org/SIR Jayne Kligman, [email protected].
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Homosexuality Rabbi Joel Roth
    EH 24.1992b HoMosEXUALITY Rabbi Joel Roth This paper wa.s approved by the CJLS on March 2.5, 1992, by a t:ote offourteen in ftwor, seven opposed, and three abstain­ inp.: (14-7-3). HJtint( in.flwor: Rabbis Stnnle_y Brnmnick, Jerome _ill. LjJstein, David _lli. 1<(:/dman, Samuel Fraint, Arnold i\1. Goodman, Reut'fTL Kimdman, Anron L. Jllaclrler, Herbert _Mandl, Lionf'l L". 1Hoses, At'ram lsr(Lel Rei,-;ner, Chaim A. Rogc~ft .Joel Roth, Jlorri,, Sh"piro, and Cemld Sirolnik tirting "gains!: Rabbis Ben Zion Bergman, £lliot N. Dorff: Rich"nl L. Fisenberg, Dov Peretz Flhins, Froward Ffandlet; Joel Rcmbaum, and Gordon Tucker. Abstaining: Rabbis Kassel Abelson, Jan Cwyl Kaufman, and _ilfrqer Rahi.nDwilz. 1he Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of' the Rabbinical 1sscmblyprovides guidance in matters of'halahhahfor the Conservative movement. The individual rabbi, however, is the (Wtlwri~yfor the interpretation nnd application r~f all mntters of'halairlwh. Part I Few topics evoke the type of visceral response that homosexuality does. Responses are often quick and definitive on both ends of the spectrum. I have been cornered by some who wonder how the question could even be on the agenda of the Law Committee. "~That is there to say about the subject from a halakhic point of view", they ask? "Putting it on the agenda validates a question which, in fact, has no validity," they claim. At the other end of the spectrum, I have been contacted by some homosexuals whose claim is equally definitive. "Halakhah has no option but to validate homosexuality as a lifestyle co-equal with heterosexuality.
    [Show full text]
  • CCAR Journal the Reform Jewish Quarterly
    CCAR Journal The Reform Jewish Quarterly Halachah and Reform Judaism Contents FROM THE EDITOR At the Gates — ohrgJc: The Redemption of Halachah . 1 A. Brian Stoller, Guest Editor ARTICLES HALACHIC THEORY What Do We Mean When We Say, “We Are Not Halachic”? . 9 Leon A. Morris Halachah in Reform Theology from Leo Baeck to Eugene B . Borowitz: Authority, Autonomy, and Covenantal Commandments . 17 Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi The CCAR Responsa Committee: A History . 40 Joan S. Friedman Reform Halachah and the Claim of Authority: From Theory to Practice and Back Again . 54 Mark Washofsky Is a Reform Shulchan Aruch Possible? . 74 Alona Lisitsa An Evolving Israeli Reform Judaism: The Roles of Halachah and Civil Religion as Seen in the Writings of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism . 92 David Ellenson and Michael Rosen Aggadic Judaism . 113 Edwin Goldberg Spring 2020 i CONTENTS Talmudic Aggadah: Illustrations, Warnings, and Counterarguments to Halachah . 120 Amy Scheinerman Halachah for Hedgehogs: Legal Interpretivism and Reform Philosophy of Halachah . 140 Benjamin C. M. Gurin The Halachic Canon as Literature: Reading for Jewish Ideas and Values . 155 Alyssa M. Gray APPLIED HALACHAH Communal Halachic Decision-Making . 174 Erica Asch Growing More Than Vegetables: A Case Study in the Use of CCAR Responsa in Planting the Tri-Faith Community Garden . 186 Deana Sussman Berezin Yoga as a Jewish Worship Practice: Chukat Hagoyim or Spiritual Innovation? . 200 Liz P. G. Hirsch and Yael Rapport Nursing in Shul: A Halachically Informed Perspective . 208 Michal Loving Can We Say Mourner’s Kaddish in Cases of Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Nefel? . 215 Jeremy R.
    [Show full text]
  • The Second Festival of Freedom: Why Shavuot May Be More Important Now Than Ever
    The Second Festival of Freedom: Why Shavuot May Be More Important Now Than Ever Gordon Tucker Hartman Rabbinic Holiday Webinar May 20, 2020 A HARVEST PILGRIMAGE, TO A PILGRIMAGE OF/DELAYED BY WEEKS, TO “ATZERET” 1 1. Exodus 23:16 1 2. Exodus 34:22, 24 1 3. Deuteronomy 16:9 1 4. H.L. Ginsberg, The Israelian Heritage of Judaism, 1982, p. 59 1 5. Leviticus 23:15 2 COUNTING DOWN OR COUNTING UP? ANTICIPATING OR TREASURING? 2 6. Moses Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed III:43 2 7. Rabbi Avraham Mordecai of Ger, brought in Likkutei Yehudah, Parashat Emor 2 MATURITY: IF IT CAN BE DONE, MUST IT BE DONE? 4 8. Bill McKibben, Falter, 2018, pp. 187–8 4 9. Mishnah Avot 4:1 4 10. Bahya ibn Pakuda, Duties of the Heart, Gate 5, Chapter 5 4 11. Bill McKibben, Falter, 2018, pp. 226–8 5 Rabbi Gordon Tucker is a senior fellow at Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. Previously he was the Senior Rabbi at Temple Israel Center in White Plains, NY (a Conservative synagogue) from 1994 to 2018. He received an A.B. from Harvard College, Ph.D. from Princeton University, and Rabbinic Ordination from Jewish Theological Seminary. He was Assistant Professor of Jewish Thought at The Jewish Theological Seminary of America from 1979 to 1994, and has been on the adjunct faculty many times since. From 1984 to 1992 he was the Dean of the Rabbinical School, overseeing the rabbinic training of hundreds of rabbis. He was a member of the Rabbinical Assembly Committee on Jewish Law and Standards from 1982 to 2007.
    [Show full text]
  • A TIME for PRESERVATION, OR REIMAGINING? Rabbi Gordon Tucker, Temple Israel Center of White Plains (Emeritus), Shalom Hartman Institute
    A TIME FOR PRESERVATION, OR REIMAGINING? Rabbi Gordon Tucker, Temple Israel Center of White Plains (Emeritus), Shalom Hartman Institute The opening chapter of Pirkei Avot is neatly times. Simeon the Righteous was one of framed by two similar but very distinct sayings. the last remaining members of the Great The first is from Simeon the Righteous, who Assembly, facing the transition to the culture said, “The world stands on three things: of post-biblical Judaism. He lived in a time of on Torah, the worship of God, and deeds of rebuilding, a time of vision. The culture he and kindness.” The very last piece in the chapter his colleagues were creating was based on presents us with a different triad. Simeon ben collective acceptance of the teachings of the Gamliel taught: “The world is sustained by recently canonized Torah and ritual practices three things: justice, truth, and peace.” that would inculcate these teachings, which were grounded in the worship of Israel’s God They sound similar. So why do we need both and emphasized treating one another with of these three-pronged lists? And is the kindness and generosity. It worked because it difference between them significant? was accepted by members of that generation and subsequent generations as expressing The first distinction is that you have to the essence of who they were and who they be Jewish to appreciate what Simeon the aspired to be. Righteous says: he talks about Israel’s Torah and the worship of Israel’s God. You don’t have to be Jewish to appreciate Simeon ben Gamliel’s message — he talks about justice, “The world is sustained truth, and peace.
    [Show full text]
  • Revelation Preprint
    Norman Solomon Revelation in the Jewish Tradition Revelation in the Jewish Tradition Norman Solomon The Hebrew Scriptures relate that God reveals His Presence through personal experience (as frequently in Psalms) or through control of history (the Exodus from Egypt, the fall of Babylon). Alternatively, He may issue instructions or laws, whether through a dream, in a vision, through an intermediary such as an angel or a prophet. Occasionally the Presence and the Command are combined: at Sinai (Exod. 19-20) or Horeb (Deut. 4-5), Israel experienced God’s Presence, and at the same time were apprised of His Will, through the Ten Words (‘Commandments’). Philo When Jews encountered Hellenistic culture they felt a need to justify revelation as a source of knowledge; Philo of Alexandria (d. c. 30 CE) is the first Jew whose speculations have been extensively preserved. In Book 2 of De Vita Mosis (VM) Philo expounds at length Moses’ excellence as philosopher-king, law-giver, high priest and prophet. For instance, ‘The next step needed was that the most suitable persons should be chosen as priests … Accordingly, he selected out of the whole number his brother as high priest on his merits and appointed his brother’s sons as priests …’ (VM 2:141-2: Loeb edition, trans. H. Colson) Philo does not claim that Moses chose Aaron, or instituted laws, on his own initiative. Rather, God revealed to Moses, through prophecy, what by reasoning he could not grasp (VM 2:6). All things written in the sacred books are divine oracles delivered through Moses (VM 2:188).
    [Show full text]
  • Shavuot 5768 by Rabbi Gordon Tucker
    Shavuot 5768 By Rabbi Gordon Tucker What we are accustomed to calling “Shavuot” or “Chag Ha-Shavuot” (“The Pilgrimage of Weeks,” since it falls seven weeks after the first day of Passover) was known in the Torah by two additional names: (1) “Chag Ha-Katzir” (“The Harvest Pilgrimage”1), because it came at the time of year when the work of harvesting the year’s produce was beginning; and (2) “Yom Ha-Bikkurim” (“The Day of First Fruits”), because it was the occasion on which the first yields of the major crops were set aside to be brought on a pilgrimage to the Temple and presented to the priests with a declaration of acknowledgment to God. Both of these alternate names for the festival turn our attention to deeply important ethical lessons associated with Shavuot, and we shall look at each of them in turn. The Shavuot season was actually inaugurated on the second day of Passover, with the offering at the Temple of a token amount of the early barley harvest and the launching of the seven week count. When many more crops had begun to ripen seven weeks later, the farmer’s obligation to offer the first fruits took effect. This ritual (beautifully and movingly spelled out in the 26th chapter of the book of Deuteronomy) was clearly meant to be a timely reminder that we are neither outright owners of our land, nor as self-sufficient as our self-flattery suggests. Yes, we may be blessed with some control over the means of production (it was land in the ancient world, and it is both that and many other things today).
    [Show full text]
  • Towards Equality
    Rabbi Paul J Jacobson Emanuel Synagogue Sydney, Australia Excerpt from sermon given on16 April 2011 Towards Equality Every year around this time, as we read Acharei Mot this Shabbat, and prepare to read Kedoshim in two weeks time, we chant aloud the biblical injunction against homosexuality. “Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abhorrence,”1 reads our parashah this week, and later we discover that Kedoshim regards a homosexual act as a capital crime, an action punishable by death.2 In a synagogue community that prides itself as warm and embracing, supportive of people regardless of their lifestyles, it is inordinately difficult to read aloud this passage year-after-year. How inconsistent is it to say, “Our community welcomes you and your partner,” but our holy Torah says that you should be put to death? Of course, everyone has an opinion on this subject. “We shouldn’t take the Torah literally,” cries one voice. “The Torah presents ancient perspectives for an ancient community and many of the concepts included in the text aren’t necessarily applicable today,” cries another voice. And yet everyone seems to know, that because of these two verses in these parashioth, that homosexuality is traditionally condemned in Judaism. I am appalled when I hear an observant colleague in the community say, “We have no problems with homosexuals in general. Jewishly, we have problems with the homosexual act.” I am dumbfounded. I cannot understand how through our own understanding and awareness of ourselves as sexual beings, with needs and craving for sexual expression, that we would think to suggest that two men or two women could be free to be involved in a loving relationship, as long as they do not express themselves sexually in the way that is most meaningful to them.
    [Show full text]
  • Contemporary Responses to Homosexuality and Halakhah
    Contemporary Responses to Homosexuality and Halakhah 1. R’ Moshe Feinstein – Igrot Moshe Orah Hayyim 4:115, 1976 (excerpts) The first thing you need to know is that homosexuality has the severe punishment of stoning and karet and it is also called disgusting by the Torah itself. It is one of the most debased sins and it even is prohibited for non‑ Jews. This knowledge is a strong bulwark against the yetzer harah. Secondly it is inexplicable that there should be a lust for it. That is because in the creation of man himself there is no natural lust for homosexuality… The desire for homosexual relations is against natural lust and even the wicked do not have a desire for it itself. Rather their entire desire for it is only because it is something prohibited and the yetzer harah seduces them to rebel against the will of God. This knowledge of what is the will of God is a powerful protection against the yetzer harah. You have already defeated the yetzer harah in that you believe in God and all the 13 principles of faith and the entire Torah. With this you can defeat the yetzer harah in this that it seduces you to rebel against God and to anger Him. There is an explicit verse in HaAzinu “That with abominations they provoke Him to anger” [Devarim 32:16] Rashi says an example is homosexuality which is a sin which causes God’s anger. He also says this regarding magic which interferes with the Heavenly family as is stated in Sanhedrin (67b).
    [Show full text]
  • Homosexuality and Halakhah: a Second Look at the Sources
    Homosexuality and Halakhah: A Second Look at the Sources Parshat Aharei Mot-Kedoshim, Leviticus 16:1-20:27| By Mark Greenspan “Same-Sex Relationships” by Rabbi Elliot Dorff, (pp. 657- 672) in The Observant Life Introduction Most of the sources quoted in this week's Torah Table Talk are the same ones that appeared a year ago for this Torah portion. Since that time I have officiated at a same-sex marriage ceremony based on the guidelines suggested by the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards. As a halakhically committed Jew I continue to wrestle with this issue but the matter became clearer to me when I viewed it from the perspective of the couple who approached me and asked to marry them. This is not a theoretical or philosophical issue; it’s about real people and real lives. In this case one of the brides was a student at whose bat mitzvah I officiated and whose family visited Israel with me years ago. The couple grappled seriously with the role that Judaism would play in their lives and they wanted to be married in a synagogue. I would like to tell you that my decision was based solely on the merits of the three responsa quoted below but that was not the case. It was a personal decision on my part. Of course I would not have made that decision without the backing of the Conservative Movement and the Committee of Jewish Laws and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly. But the truth is there are problems with each of the decisions as I understand them.
    [Show full text]
  • Resources to Begin the Study of Jewish Law in Conservative Judaism*
    LAW LIBRARY JOURNAL Vol. 105:3 [2013-15] Resources to Begin the Study of Jewish Law in Conservative Judaism* David Hollander** Conservative Judaism stands at the center of the Jewish ideological spectrum. In that position it strives, sometimes with difficulty, to apply a flexible, modern out- look to an ancient system of binding laws. This bibliography provides law scholars with annotated citations to a selection of important sources related to Jewish law in Conservative Judaism, supplemented by brief explanations of the larger context of the resources. Introduction . 305 Historical Development of Conservative Judaism. 307 Primary Sources of Jewish Law in Conservative Judaism. 310 Secondary Sources of Jewish Law in Conservative Judaism. 316 Jewish Law and Conservative Judaism in Israel. 319 Conclusion . 320 Introduction ¶1 Conservative Judaism is an unfortunately named branch of liberal Judaism.1 If Orthodox Judaism stands on one side of the left-right divide of the Jewish com- munity (the right side), Conservative Judaism is firmly on the opposite (left) side. However, if the Jewish community is divided into those who view Jewish law as binding and those who do not, Conservative Judaism (in theory, at least) is firmly on the side of binding law, the same side as Orthodox Judaism. So Conservative Judaism occupies an uncomfortable position, firmly modern and liberal, while still adhering to a binding legal framework, which is a space largely occupied by the nonliberal camp of Orthodox Judaism. ¶2 This middle space is accompanied by many problems, but despite these problems, the conception of Jewish law offered by the Conservative movement represents an important and comprehensive vision that claims for itself a historical authenticity,2 and that is ideally suited to ensure that the exploration of Jewish law * © David Hollander, 2013.
    [Show full text]
  • A PRINCIPLED DEFENSE of the Current STRUCTURE and STATUS of the CJLS
    HM 2.1993 A PRINCIPLED DEFENSE OF THE CuRRENT STRUCTURE AND STATUS OF THE CJLS Rabbi Gordon Tucker This paper H'w; discussed and arr:epted into the rerord (?{the GJLS on February 1'7, 1993, tcitlwut being voted upon. 1he Committee on ]eu:i..-.;h T.atv and Standard-.;_ of the Rabbinical Assemb('v pro-vides guidance in matters (~f halakhah for the Conservative movement. The individual rahhi, hmcever, L'> the authority.for the intetpretatiorr and application (?{all matters of halaldwh. Introduction Every so often in the history of the Rabbinical Assembly, concerns are raised about the struc­ ture of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (henceforth: CJLS), and whether it ade­ quately serves both the ideology of the movement and the needs of the RA's members. Such discussions surrounded its creation in 1927, its restructuring in 1948, and various changes in its by-laws. Indeed, my own earliest, and still most vivid memory of a spirited exchange on the floor of the RA Convention, was the heated debate at the 1976 Convention, during which members presented a resolution which stated, among other things, that the CJLS, as then structured, "weakens the authority of all rabbis, whether the individual rabbi agrees or dis­ agrees with the majority decision of the Committee ... .In this way, the Mara D'atra becomes less and less his own congregation's interpreter of the classical sources of the Jewish tradi­ tion."1 The resolution called for the CJLS to be dissolved, and to be replaced by a "Panel on Jewish Law", which would have had the authority to respond only to individual rabbis who had sent in queries, and which would not have produced published, authoritative responsa.
    [Show full text]
  • Tucker Paper.Indd
    HALAKHIC AND METAHALAKHIC ARGUMENTS CONCERNING JUDAISM AND HOMOSEXUALITY Rabbi Gordon Tucker In addition to being a responsum on the issue at hand, this paper is also a more general essay on approaches to law. It argues that the methods that have been used in the Conservative Movement to analyze and develop halakhah have been conceived in an overly narrow way, and that this constriction of halakhic method deprives us of an articulation of an approach to Jewish law that would not only be both compassionate and intellectually consistent, but would give distinctive meaning to what Conservative Judaism is as a religious movement. It ultimately points the way to a more expansive model of halakhic argument. The question of reconciling Judaism and homosexuality serves here as a tool for exposing the inadequacies of our practices. But the expanded vision urged here will surely have important ramifications beyond this present case. The paper begins with a careful delineation of the issues involved in the question of normalizing the status of Jewish gays and lesbians. In so doing, it identifies two major arguments that have been raised against normalization. They are here termed (1) the theological argument (i.e. the argument from the clarity – which is here completely affirmed – of the Torah’s prohibition on homosexual relations), and (2) the halakhic/systemic argument, which appeals to the methods of legal positivism to rule out any change in what is deeply entrenched precedent. Both of these arguments against normalization are addressed in the paper. The first is shown to be mismatched with normative Conservative Jewish theology.
    [Show full text]