Extensions of Remarks E2379 EXTENSIONS of REMARKS
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
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. -
Reform Judaism: in 1000 Words Gender
Reform Judaism: In 1000 Words Gender Context One of the distinctive features of Reform Judaism is our unequivocal commitment to gender equality. Or is it? As Rabbi Barbara Borts of Darlington Hebrew Congregation writes, though there are many examples of equality in our movement (such as our exceptional siddur and women in senior rabbinic positions) the journey towards true equality in our communities has been a process of development over many years, and in some ways is not yet complete. Content The male rabbi who was approached to write this section demurred, believing it was inappropriate for him to write about gender issues. Gender, he believed, really meant ‘women.’ This is a natural conclusion. After all, Judaism developed as a patriarchal religion with strict delineations between male Jewish life and female Jewish life: male Judaism was the norm [a Jew and His Judaism] and the woman, a separate category.i Although the idea of gender now encompasses many aspects of sexual identity, for most people, ‘gender’ will mean ‘women’ and we will thus examine past and current thinking about women’s roles in the MRJ. In 1840 West London Synagogue, women’s equality was not part of the founders’ visions. Women sat in the balcony until 1910 (except for the Yamim Nora’im) and the choir was initially all-male, although women would join early on.ii Other founding synagogues discussed participation by women, but there was no consensus about what equality for women entailed, not even through the 1990s and perhaps beyond. The first women rabbis often encountered great opposition and found it difficult to gain employment against male candidates for particular jobs. -
Jewish Philosophy and Western Culture Jewish Prelims I-Xvi NEW.Qxp 25/10/07 14:06 Page Ii
Jewish_Prelims_i-xvi NEW.qxp 25/10/07 14:06 Page i Jewish Philosophy and Western Culture Jewish_Prelims_i-xvi NEW.qxp 25/10/07 14:06 Page ii ‘More than just an introduction to contemporary Jewish philosophy, this important book offers a critique of the embedded assumptions of contemporary post-Christian Western culture. By focusing on the suppressed or denied heritage of Jewish and Islamic philosophy that helped shape Western society, it offers possibilities for recovering broader dimensions beyond a narrow rationalism and materialism. For those impatient with recent one-dimensional dismissals of religion, and surprised by their popularity, it offers a timely reminder of the sources of these views in the Enlightenment, but also the wider humane dimensions of the religious quest that still need to be considered. By recognising the contribution of gender and post-colonial studies it reminds us that philosophy, “the love of wisdom”, is still concerned with the whole human being and the complexity of personal and social relationships.’ Jonathan Magonet, formerly Principal of Leo Baeck College, London, and Vice-President of the Movement for Reform Judaism ‘Jewish Philosophy and Western Culture makes a spirited and highly readable plea for “Jerusalem” over “Athens” – that is, for recovering the moral and spiritual virtues of ancient Judaism within a European and Western intellectual culture that still has a preference for Enlightenment rationalism. Victor Seidler revisits the major Jewish philosophers of the last century as invaluable sources of wisdom for Western philosophers and social theorists in the new century. He calls upon the latter to reclaim body and heart as being inseparable from “mind.”’ Peter Ochs, Edgar Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies, University of Virginia Jewish_Prelims_i-xvi NEW.qxp 25/10/07 14:06 Page iii JEWISH PHILOSOPHY AND WESTERN CULTURE A Modern Introduction VICTOR J. -
Happy Birthday Harry
January/February 2016 VOL. XLIII No. 1 Liberal Judaism is a constituent of the World Union for Progressive Judaism www.liberaljudaism.org ljtoday Happy birthday Harry Mitzvah Day NE OF Liberal Judaism’s most The Liberal Jewish Synagogue (LJS) Award for NPLS beloved, and senior, rabbis service was taken by two of Harry’s Ocelebrated his 90th birthday with children, Rabbis Dr Margaret and Richard special services and kiddushim held at Jacobi, along with LJS senior rabbi, communities all over the UK. Rabbi Alexandra Wright. Harry gave the Rabbi Harry Jacobi was joined by sermon. Others in attendance included friends, family and Liberal Judaism Simon Benscher and Rabbi Danny Rich, members at events at The Liberal Jewish the chair and senior rabbi of Liberal Synagogue, Woodford Liberal Synagogue, Judaism, Rabbi Rachel Benjamin and Birmingham Progressive Synagogue, Rabbi Dr David Goldberg. Southgate Progressive Synagogue, At the end of the service, Harry was Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue visibly moved as his young granddaughter and South Bucks Jewish Community. Tali presented him with a Festschrift Harry, who was born as Heinz Martin written in his honour. The book, reviewed Hirschberg in October 1925, and grew on page 10 of this issue of lj today, was up in Auerbach, Germany, twice fled the edited by Rabbi Danny Rich and features Nazis to become one of Britain’s most contributions from leading Progressive NORTHWOOD & PINNER LIBERAL respected and inspiring religious leaders. Jewish rabbis and thinkers. Another SYNAGOGUE (NPLS) won this year’s granddaughter, Abigail, Mitzvah Day Award for Interfaith wrote the biography Partnership of the Year. -
Sybil Sheridan History of Women in the Rabbinate
Sybil Sheridan History of Women in the Rabbinate: a Case of Communal Amnesia* It seems strange to be offering as history something that has in the main occurred in my own lifetime. Part of this makes me feel very old, as when my son asked me: “Mummy, was it the first world war or the second world war when you were a little girl?” But the history actually goes back quite some way: not just to 1976, when Rabbi Jacqueline Tabick was first ordained in England, nor to the ordination of Rabbi Sally Priesand in the USA in 1972, but at least a century. Why have we not heard of it? Because up to this moment, the history of women in the Rabbinate can be summed up quite neatly as a history of forgetting – a case of communal amnesia. To explain, I must apologise for beginning with a very personal moment in my own life, the day in October 1993 when Dr Hermann Simon, director of the Zentrum Judaicum Foundation in Berlin, came to the Leo Baeck College in London and presented a gift: a photograph and the ordination certificate of Rabbi Regina Jonas, ordained in Germany in 1935. The story of Rabbi Jonas may be well known to some; to others it will be new. Regina Jonas was born on 3 August 1902 in Berlin1 and at the age of 21 began working as a teacher of religion in the Orthodox Jewish School where her brother, Abraham also taught. Not content just to be a teacher, she * This article is based on a lecture given at Bet Deborah, Berlin to the European Conference of Women Rabbis, Cantors and Scholars, 13-16 May 1999 / 27 Iyar – 1 Sivan 5759; a shorter version has been published in German in the report of the conference: Sybil Sheridan, “Der Geschichte nicht trauen,” in: Bet Debora Berlin, Journal Nr. -
European Judaism - Rabbi Sheila Shulman/90Th Anniversary of the World Union for Progressive Judaism
H-Judaic TOC: European Judaism - Rabbi Sheila Shulman/90th Anniversary of the World Union for Progressive Judaism Discussion published by Young Lee on Saturday, November 19, 2016 Dear Colleague, Below are the contents from the last two issues of European Judaism. The current issue of Volume 49, Issue 2 is dedicated to Rabbi Sheila Shulman Z'L. This memorial issue marks her passing as well as twenty-five years since her ordination. Volume 49, Issue 1 coincides with the ninetieth anniversary of the founding of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) in London in 1926. It addresses aspects, in particular, of the history of the European Union (formerly European Region) (EUPJ) and Youth Section of the World Union (WUPJYS). Current Issue: Volume 49, Issue 2 Editorial, Jonathan Magonet In Memoriam Sheila Shulman z'l, Elli Tikvah Sarah 25th Anniversary Reflections Queer Jews Talking Their Way In, Rachel Adler Talking My Way In: Reflections on the Journey of a Lesbian Feminist Queer Rabbi, Elli Tikvah Sarah Reminiscences Starting the Conversation: Transforming the World One Word at a Time, Deborah Kahn-Harris Still Talking with Sheila, Judith Rosen-Berry Perspectives Anan D'Sageinan B'Shleimutah: A Theology of LGBTQ Integrity, Integration and Rabbinic Leadership, Shulamit Ambalu Gifts from the LGBTQ Community: A Reflection, Janet Burden L'Aimé qui est l'aimée: Can Levinas' Beloved Be Queer?, Robin Podolsky Dancing in Solidarity and Dissent, Mark L. Solomon Dedications A Woman would Marry a Woman: Reading Sifra on Lesbianism, Laliv Clenman Citation: Young Lee. TOC: European Judaism - Rabbi Sheila Shulman/90th Anniversary of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. -
02-Annual-Report-Final.Pdf
EUROPEAN UNION FOR PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM Annual Report 2015 for the European Assembly at Holiday Inn – Kensington Forum London United Kingdom 17th April 2016 Honorary Officers, Office Holders and Staff 2015 Honorary Life Presidents Ruth Cohen Jeffery Rose President Leslie Bergman Vice-Presidents Alex Dembitz Rabbi Andrew Goldstein Sonja Guentner Rabbi Walter Homolka Rabbi Deborah Kahn-Harris Jonathan Lewis Félix Mosbacher Gordon Smith Chairman Miriam Kramer Joint Vice-Chairmen Stéphane Beder Michael Reik Honorary Secretary John Cohen Honorary Treasurer David Pollak Board Members Rabbi Danny Rich Rabbi Ruven Bar-Ephraim (Rabbinic Adviser) Rabbi Mark Goldsmith Andrew Hart (Legal Adviser) Leo Hepner z”l Deborah Hofer Rabbi Lea Muehlstein WUPJ Representative Rabbi Joel Oseran Administrator Deborah Grabiner Newsletter Editor Arthur Buchman 2 Contents Page 2 Honorary Officers, Office Holders and Staff 2015 Page 3 Contents Page 5 EUPJ Report Page 7 WUPJ Report Page 8 European Beit Din Page 9 Austria – Or Chadasch Page 10 Belgium – Beth Hillel, Brussels Page 11 Belgium – IJC, Brussels Page 12 Czech Republic – Bejt Simcha, Prague Page 13 Czech Republic – ZLU Hatikvah, Prague Page 14 Denmark – Shir Hatzafon, Copenhagen Page 15 France – AJLT, Toulouse Page 16 France – AJTM, Paris Page 16 France – Communauté Juive Libérale, Dauphiné Grenoble (Beit haOr) Page 16 France – Communauté Juive Libérale, Montpellier Page 16 France – Communauté Juive Libérale, Paris Page 17 France - Kehilat Gesher, Paris Page 18 France- Kehilat Kedem, Montpellier Page 19 France -
Leo Baeck College Annual Review 2014-15
LEO BAECK COLLEGE ANNUAL REVIEW 2014-15 LEO BAECK COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS 2014-15 APRIL Rabbi Jonathan Keren Black was presented with his Fellowship of the College by Rabbi Dr Charles Middleburgh. The Governors of Leo Baeck College were pleased to appoint Noeleen Cohen as the new Chair. MAY Omid Djalili was the special guest at our Annual Fundraising Dinner. JUNE The Van der Zyl lecture hosted by Alyth Synagogue was delivered by guest lecturer Rabbi Professor Rachel Adler. Leo Baeck College marked the 25th anniversary of the ordination of the first openly LGBT rabbis, namely Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah and Rabbi Sheila Shulman z”l. The keynote speaker at this event was Rabbi Professor Rachel Adler who delivered an inspiring talk on the subject of ‘Gays, Lesbians, Transsexuals Talking Their Way Into Judaism’. JULY Three new rabbis were ordained at Edgware & District Reform Synagogue Rabbi Dr René Pfertzel, Rabbi Dr Kate Briggs and Rabbi Julia Grishchenko. Leo Baeck College held an International Conference on ‘Rabbis and the Great War’ at West London Synagogue. Rabbi Dr Larry Hoffman was the guest lecturer at the Summer Institute for Jewish Leadership at Finchley Progressive Synagogue. At West London Synagogue, the class of ’87, Rabbis Sylvia Rothschild, Jonathan Wittenberg, Michael Hilton and Stephen Howard were presented with fellowships by Rabbi Dr Deborah Kahn-Harris, Principal. SEPTEMBER Rabbi Dr Charles Middleburgh was appointed Dean of Leo Baeck College. OCTOBER The launch of the Leo Baeck College Lehrhaus marked an exciting time in the development and growth of adult Jewish education for 21st century Jews. Nine rabbinic students from Leo Baeck College donned their finery and headed to Lambeth Palace for the launch of the CCJ Buddy Scheme. -
The Dying Person in Jewish Law and Ethics Philip J
Loyola University Chicago Law Journal Volume 37 Article 7 Issue 2 Winter 2006 2006 The hS attered Vessel: The Dying Person in Jewish Law and Ethics Philip J. Bentley Agudas Israel Synagogue Follow this and additional works at: http://lawecommons.luc.edu/luclj Part of the Medical Jurisprudence Commons, and the Religion Law Commons Recommended Citation Philip J. Bentley, The Shattered Vessel: The Dying Person in Jewish Law and Ethics, 37 Loy. U. Chi. L. J. 433 (2006). Available at: http://lawecommons.luc.edu/luclj/vol37/iss2/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by LAW eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Loyola University Chicago Law Journal by an authorized administrator of LAW eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Shattered Vessel: The Dying Person in Jewish Law and Ethics Philip J. Bentley, DD* I. INTRODUCTION On the day when Rabbi died the Rabbis decreed a public fast and offered prayers for heavenly mercy. They furthermore announced that whoever said that Rabbi was dead would be stabbed with a sword. Rabbi's handmaid ascended the roof and prayed: 'The immortals desire Rabbi [to join them] and the mortals desire Rabbi [to remain with them]; may it be the will [of God] that the mortals may overpower the immortals.' When, however, she saw how often he resorted to the privy, painfully taking off his tefillin and putting them on again, she prayed: 'May it be the will [of the Almighty] that the immortals may overpower the mortals.' As the Rabbis incessantly continued their prayers for [heavenly] mercy she took up a jar and threw it down from the roof to the ground. -
Judaizing and Singularity in England, 1618-1667
Judaizing and Singularity in England, 1618-1667 Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Aidan Francis Cottrell-Boyce, Gonville and Caius College, June 2018. For Anna. Abstract In the seventeenth century, in England, a remarkable number of small, religious movements began adopting demonstratively Jewish ritual practices. They were labelled by their contemporaries as Judaizers. Typically, this phenomenon has been explained with reference to other tropes of Puritan practical divinity. It has been claimed that Judaizing was a form of Biblicism or a form of millenarianism. In this thesis, I contend that Judaizing was an expression of another aspect of the Puritan experience: the need to be recognized as a ‘singular,’ positively- distinctive, separated minority. Contents Introduction 1 Singularity and Puritanism 57 Judaizing and Singularity 99 ‘A Jewish Faccion’: Anti-legalism, Judaizing and the Traskites 120 Thomas Totney, Judaizing and England’s Exodus 162 The Tillamites, Judaizing and the ‘Gospel Work of Separation’ 201 Conclusion 242 Introduction During the first decades of the seventeenth century in England, a remarkable number of small religious groups began to adopt elements of Jewish ceremonial law. In London, in South Wales, in the Chilterns and the Cotswolds, congregations revived the observation of the Saturday Sabbath.1 Thomas Woolsey, imprisoned for separatism, wrote to his co-religionists in Amsterdam to ‘prove it unlawful to eat blood and things strangled.’2 John Traske and his followers began to celebrate Passover -
EUPJ-Newsletter-2017
European Union for Progressive Judaism September 2017 Newsletter © European Union for Progressive Judaism Chairman ’s message “Is It Time?” We are now in Elul, the month preceding the holiest Last year I attended the season of the Jewish year. It is a time for reflection, closing session of a major a time for reaching out and a time for new annual event in the European beginnings. On behalf of EUPJ’s Management Jewish calendar, the Committee I wish all our readers a happy, healthy, London Jewish Book successful, Progressive and safe 5778. As is Week. The closing session apparent this is a more dangerous world than we that year featured three could imagine (see my colleague Leslie Bergman’s well known figures of the column on this page) but we remain resolute that European literary intellectual there is a future for us in Europe. Despite all the scene in debate – Is it time uncertainty and anger it is our firm belief that we will for Jews in Europe to once not again be hounded out of Europe. again pack their bags? Leslie Bergman In the paragraph above I men- They concluded not. tioned new beginnings. This Earlier this week I was in Berlin and went to an edition of the newsletter, very excellent but chilling exhibition, “Berlin 1937 – In the sadly, is the last one edited by Shadow of Tomorrow”. That it was “time” for German Arthur Buchman. For more Jews in 1937 was abundantly obvious – perhaps than a decade he has without with the benefit of hindsight. The institutions of state fail produced an outstanding had turned against the Jews. -
Faith Leaders' Open Letter to the Prime Minister
http://interfaithrefugeeinitiative.org/ We are leaders from Britain’s major faiths: Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Zoroastrian. All our faiths compel us to affirm the dignity of all human beings and to offer help to anyone in need. As people of faith, we call on your Government urgently to revise its policy towards refugees. The best of this country is represented by the generosity, kindness, solidarity and decency that Britain has at many times shown those fleeing persecution, even at times of far greater deprivation and difficulty than the present day. We rejoice in the mosaic of different faiths and British communities that we now represent. We are proud that in May 2016, in a survey by Amnesty International, 83% of Britons said they would welcome refugees into their neighbourhoods and households. In the face of the unfolding human catastrophe, there are immediate and viable steps that the Government can take to offer sanctuary to more refugees. We call on you to create safe, legal routes of travel, for example by adopting fair and humane family reunion policies for refugees. Under the present immigration rules, a British doctor of Syrian origin could not bring her parents from a refugee camp in Lebanon – even though they were refugees and she could support and house them. A Syrian child who arrived alone in the UK could not bring his parents from a refugee camp in Jordan – even if the child were recognised a refugee and even though his parents were themselves refugees. Families in these situations can currently be reunited only by resorting to desperately unsafe irregular journeys, sometimes ending in avoidable tragedies.