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Sinful Thoughts: Comments on Sin, Failure, Free Will, and Related Topics Based on David Bashevkin’S New Book Sin•A•Gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought
Sinful Thoughts: Comments on Sin, Failure, Free Will, and Related Topics Based on David Bashevkin’s new book Sin•a•gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought Sinful Thoughts: Comments on Sin, Failure, Free Will, and Related Topics Based on David Bashevkin’s new book Sin•a•gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2019) By Rabbi Yitzchok Oratz A Bashevkin-inspired Bio Blurb:[1] Rabbi Yitzchok Oratz is Rabbi of the Monmouth Torah Links community in Marlboro, NJ. His writings can be found in various rabbinic and popular journals, including Hakira, Ohr Yisroel, Nehoroy, Nitay Ne’emanim, and on Aish, Times of Israel, Torah Links, Seforim Blog, and elsewhere. His writings are rejected as often as they are accepted, and the four books he is currently working on will likely never see the light of day. “I’d rather laugh[2] with the sinners than cry with the saints; the sinners are much more fun.”[3] Fortunate is the man who follows not the advice of the wicked, nor stood in the path of the sinners, nor sat in the session of the scorners. (Psalms 1:1) One who hopes is always happy [and] without pain . hope keeps one alive . even one who has minimal good deeds . has hope . one who hopes, even if he enters Hell, he will be taken out . his hope is his purity, literally the Mikvah [4] of Yisroel . and this is the secret of repentance . (Ramchal, Derush ha-Kivuy) [5] Rabbi David Bashevkin is a man deeply steeped in sin. -
HOD 2007New 6.Indd
Ten-year-old Moshiko was saved by an organ transplant made possible by the Halachic Organ Donor Society Saving Lives n 1995, 20-year-old American Alisa Flatow died of her injuries following a terrorist Iattack in Israel. After consulting with Rabbi Moshe Tendler, a renowned Orthodox rabbi and an expert in biomedical ethics, her parents made the emotionally difficult but courageous decision to donate her organs for transplantation saving many lives. Alisa Flatow This highly publicized case was followed by organ donations from other Orthodox Jews, including J.J. Greenberg, Yoni Jesner and Tani Goodman. Nonetheless, a widespread misconception persists among Jews of all denominations, including secular Jews, that traditional Jewish law (i.e. Halacha) J.J. Greenberg categorically prohibits organ donation. As a result of this misunderstanding, Jews have one of the lowest organ donation rates of any ethnic group. Only 8 percent of Israel’s population are registered organ donors, as compared to 35 percent of the population in most Western countries. Yoni Jesner Meanwhile, the demand for organ transplants continues to increase. In the past decade, the number of Americans waiting for organs has grown from 27,000 to more than 100,000 today. More than 100 Israelis and 6,000 Americans die every year waiting for Tani Goodman an organ transplant. 2 www.hods.org www.hods.org 3 Halachic Organ Donor Society (Halacha is Hebrew for Jewish law; halachic is the adjective) The HOD* Society saves lives by increasing organ donation from Jews to the general population (including non-Jews). It does this by educating Jews about the medical and halachic issues concerning organ donation so their decision about being an organ donor will be based on a complete understanding of the issue. -
June 2017 /Sivan 5777
June 2017 /Sivan 5777 Common Questions Frum Patients Should Ask of Doctors Dear Reader: There are many situations in many areas of life in which halakha and medicine intersect, but this is especially so in the area of Taharat Hamishpakha, or family purity. In this issue, we will focus on some of the most common questions women ask a yoetzet halakha, for which she advises them to reach out to their doctors. Q: I recently started a new pill. I had one typical cycle, and then, when I came home from the mikvah, I started staining. What should I do? Is this normal? My doctor did say I might have some staining, but I have never stained before and am concerned. Should I call my doctor? A: Whenever a woman has a doubt about whether or not she should call her doctor, I would always advise her to call her doctor. Being in touch with the physician who knows the woman's medical history can be helpful; additionally, the doctor can track her concerns. If she calls again with the same concern, the doctor can remind her that she had spoken about it before and be particularly understanding that this is something she is very worried about. In this particular case, it would be important to note the following factors: Where was the staining, how much did she see, and where she is in her cycle when she saw it? If she is taking the active pills and she is wearing colored underwear, assuming she did not have an actual flow, she would not be in niddah. -
Sinful Thoughts: Comments on Sin, Failure, Free Will, and Related Topics Based on David Bashevkin’S New Book Sin•A•Gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought
Sinful Thoughts: Comments on Sin, Failure, Free Will, and Related Topics Based on David Bashevkin’s new book Sin•a•gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought Sinful Thoughts: Comments on Sin, Failure, Free Will, and Related Topics Based on David Bashevkin’s new book Sin•a•gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2019) By Rabbi Yitzchok Oratz A Bashevkin-inspired Bio Blurb:[1] Rabbi Yitzchok Oratz is Rabbi of the Monmouth Torah Links community in Marlboro, NJ. His writings can be found in various rabbinic and popular journals, including Hakira, Ohr Yisroel, Nehoroy, Nitay Ne’emanim, and on Aish, Times of Israel, Torah Links, Seforim Blog, and elsewhere. His writings are rejected as often as they are accepted, and the four books he is currently working on will likely never see the light of day. “I’d rather laugh[2] with the sinners than cry with the saints; the sinners are much more fun.”[3] Fortunate is the man who follows not the advice of the wicked, nor stood in the path of the sinners, nor sat in the session of the scorners. (Psalms 1:1) One who hopes is always happy [and] without pain . hope keeps one alive . even one who has minimal good deeds . has hope . one who hopes, even if he enters Hell, he will be taken out . his hope is his purity, literally the Mikvah [4] of Yisroel . and this is the secret of repentance . (Ramchal, Derush ha-Kivuy) [5] Rabbi David Bashevkin is a man deeply steeped in sin. -
An Honest Account of a Contemporary Jewish Publishing Odyssey
An Honest Account of a Contemporary Jewish Publishing Odyssey In Your Anger, Please Mercifully Publish My Work: An Honest Account of a Contemporary Jewish Publishing Odyssey by Dovid Bashevkin[1] My recently published sefer, “Berogez Racheim Tizkor” (trans: “In your anger, you shall remember to have mercy”), whose title is based on the verse in Habbakuk 3:2 and traditionally recited each morning during Tahanun, really began as a tweet. In March 2014, I tweeted, “Considering writing a sefer entitled “Aveiros K’Hilchisa.” Considering writing a sefer entitled “Aveiros K’Hilchisa.” — D Bash (@DBashIdeas) March 5, 2014 The tweet was originally intended as a satire of the many seforim that have been published as halakhic digests of obscure practical issues in Judaism. If there could be an Ittush be-Halakhah (trans: “Sneezing in Jewish Law,” – an actual pamphlet shown to me by my dear friend and devoted consigliere Reb Menachem Butler), why not anAveiros “ K’Hilchisa”?[2] However, as often happens, what began as satire became a very real project. Following the passing of my Zaide, Mr. William Bashevkin, and last living grandparent, I thought it would be a fitting tribute to their memory to publish a work of Torah. Additionally, coupling sorrow with joy, my marriage this past year to Tova (née Flancbaum) gave me the inspiration to begin my relationship with a project of Torah scholarship. The sefer, which is a small collection of essays discussing halakhic issues related to sin and the path towards teshuva, is based upon shiurim I have had the opportunity to deliver periodically at the Young Israel of Lawrence Cedarhurst. -
Reflections of the David Cardozo Academy Think Tank
Highlighting the activities of the David Cardozo Academy REFLECTIONS of the David Cardozo Academy Think Tank Thoughts to Ponder - 682 THE PERFECT TORAH VERSUS THE EVOLVING TORAH Thinking Globally Dear friends, Shalom u-vracha Living Jewishly It is a great pleasure to present to my readers the fi rst of several essays, written by my dear friend, student, colleague and scholar Yehudah DovBer Zirkind, based on my insights into Torah and Halacha and the discussion of these ideas within the David Cardozo Academy’s Think Tank. This time the discussion centers around the thoughts of the great Chassidic master Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica, (Poland, 1800-1854) known by his work: Mei Hashiloach, one the most unusual works ever written by a deeply ultra-orthodox master thinker. This work has infl uenced many other orthodox and non-orthodox scholars. It may also have inspired the famous halachist, and mystic, Chief Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook (1865-1935). Rabbi Leiner’s thoughts are of the greatest importance for our days. It deals, among many other issues, with the numerous serious problems which emerge when our moral intuition confl icts with conventional Halacha; the question whether the Halacha is able to respond to the radical changes which have taken place in modern times. Is the conventional Halacha appropriate for all Jews when it is becomes clearer and clearer that human beings are by nature so radically diff erent and consequently unable to live by one and the same code? How can one standardized deeply religious law respond and -
KADESH – שדק Continued
קדש – KADESH בהמשך - continued [Rabbi Zadok HaKohen of Lublin, Poland 1823-1900, in Likkuetie Ma'amarim, 68d writes: “Especially the sanctity of the times that Israel sanctify. Parashat Ha'Chodesh was said at the time of the Exodus. The sanctity of individual times derives from the sanctity of Israel, through the capacity of individuals. On the other hand, approached from the point of view of collective sanctity, time is undifferentiated. Individual sanctity allows one the time to be different from the other, unique. The rabbis alluded to this interconnectedness by saying, 'Why is one day different from another? Why is one person different from another?'” (Talmud Sanhedrin 65b)] The Rav Kook Hagadah: Springtime of the World, Bezalel Naor, Orot, Inc. 2012, p. 197-19 ורחץ כרפס – AND WASH, GREENS According to the Talmud, vegetables before the meal were a course reserved for the wealthy. “Rav Hisda said, 'a student who does not have much bread, should not eat vegetables because they whet the appetite. When I was poor I did not eat vegetables because they whet the appetite.'” (Talmud Shabbat 140b). A spiritual novice not very far along the way will restrict his/her diet in an attempt to live a life of asceticism and purity. However, our aspiration is to reach a state in which positive values do not impede one another but rather enhance one another, a state of divine harmony whereby, in emulation of the Creator, one “sits on high but sees the lowly.” (Psalms 113: 5,6). This is an expansive state of consciousness, mochin d'gadlut, alluded to -
David Bashevkin JEWISH THOUGHT
David Bashevkin Rabbi Bashevkin is the director of education for NCSY and an instructor at Yeshiva University. He recently published Sin·a·gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought. JEWISH THOUGHT: A PROCESS, NOT A TEXT am deeply uncomfortable with the term “Jewish thought.” Its sibling, “mahshava” and its more formal uncle, “Mahashevet Yisrael,” make me Ifeel no better. Allow me to ignore altogether their uneducated cousin “hashkafa,” a term so vacuous it barely deserves our attention. There are several reasons I do not like these terms. First of all, they divorce these texts from the larger body of Jewish literature from which they arise. Cordoning off ideas with philosophical import was not practiced by the Talmud, nor by Maimonides in his Mishne Torah, and the idea of doing so was explicitly lamented by Rabbi Shmuel Eidels, known as Maharsha, in the introduction to his talmudic commentary.1 “I regret my initial decision to divide up my commentary into two separate works,” he writes, “namely, one on aggada and one on halakha.” Classifi cations and specialization, while often necessary and commonly accepted in academic circles, strips the fl avor and richness away from Jewish ideas. Jewish thought divorced from halakhic and, more broadly, talmudic discourse, can feel like caging a wild animal. A tiger in a zoo may be majestic, but it is clearly not in its natural habitat. The context in which ideas emerge, Jewish or otherwise, is part of what nourishes their signifi cance. Philosophical ideas cannot be taken out of context. Whether it is a consideration of the broader talmudic context, the larger work in which they appear, or the historical framework—context matters. -
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F i n e Ju d a i C a . pr i n t e d bo o K s , ma n u s C r i p t s , au t o g r a p h Le t t e r s , gr a p h i C & Ce r e m o n i a L ar t K e s t e n b a u m & Co m p a n y We d n e s d a y , ma r C h 21s t , 2012 K e s t e n b a u m & Co m p a n y . Auctioneers of Rare Books, Manuscripts and Fine Art A Lot 275 Catalogue of F i n e Ju d a i C a . PRINTED BOOKS , MANUSCRI P TS , AUTOGRA P H LETTERS , GRA P HIC & CERE M ONIA L ART Featuring: Property from the Library of a New England Scholar ——— To be Offered for Sale by Auction, Wednesday, 21st March, 2012 at 3:00 pm precisely ——— Viewing Beforehand: Sunday, 18th March - 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm Monday, 19th March - 10:00 am - 6:00 pm Tuesday, 20th March - 10:00 am - 6:00 pm No Viewing on the Day of Sale This Sale may be referred to as: “Maymyo” Sale Number Fifty Four Illustrated Catalogues: $38 (US) * $45 (Overseas) KestenbauM & CoMpAny Auctioneers of Rare Books, Manuscripts and Fine Art . 242 West 30th street, 12th Floor, new york, NY 10001 • tel: 212 366-1197 • Fax: 212 366-1368 e-mail: [email protected] • World Wide Web site: www.Kestenbaum.net K e s t e n b a u m & Co m p a n y . -
CHANGING MINDS Feminism in Contemporary Orthodox Jewish Life
CHANGING MINDS Feminism in Contemporary Orthodox Jewish Life Sylvia Barack Fishman THE WILLIAM PETSCHEK NATIONAL JEWISH FAMILY CENTER OF THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE The American Jewish Committee protects the rights and freedoms of Jews the world over; combats bigotry and anti-Semitism and promotes human rights for all; works for the security of Israel and deepened understanding between Americans and Israelis; advocates public policy positions rooted in American democratic values and the perspectives of the Jewish heritage; and enhances the creative vitality of the Jewish people. Founded in 1906, it is the pioneer human-relations agency in the United States. CHANGING MINDS Feminism in Contemporary Orthodox Jewish Life Sylvia Barack Fishman Sylvia Barack Fishman, Ph.D., is co-director of the Hadassah International Research Institute on Jewish Women and a professor in the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department, both at Brandeis University. Her most recent book is Jewish Life and American Culture (2000). Publication of this study was made possible in part by a grant from the Barbara and Saul Mirowitz Fund. CONTENTS Foreword V Acknowledgments vii Introduction I Studying Feminism and Orthodox Jewish Life 1 Methodology 5 Women ,s Issues and the Halakhic Continuum 8 1. The World of the Word 13 Girls' and Women's Text Study 13 Women as Scholars and Credentialed Leaders 21 The Feminist Theological Challenge 26 2. Transformations in Family Life 29 3. Women and Public Judaism 35 Jewish Organizations 35 Women's Prayer Groups as Catalysts 38 Celebration of Women's Lives 40 The Symbolism of Women andKaddish 43 # 4. Problems and Divisions 46 Neither Seen Nor Heard: Synagogue Architecture, Kol Isha, and the Silencing of Women 46 The Politicization of Women's Issues 52 Orthodox Women Who Reject Orthodox Feminism 57 Confronting Agunot, Abusive Spouses, and Social Problems 60 Motivations and Slippery Slopes 65 ;V * Contents 5. -
Meat, Milk and Scripture
Meat, Milk and Scripture Early Rabbinic Interpretations of the Biblical Prohibition of a Forbidden Mixture A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Department of History and Cultural Studies (Institute of Jewish Studies) of the Freie Universität Berlin Harriet Publicover Berlin, 2020 Supervisor: Prof. Tal Ilan Second examiner: Prof. Mark Geller Date of defence: 10 December 2018 Declaration of independent work: I hereby declare that I have produced the submitted thesis independently, using only the literature and resources indicated. Berlin, 20.10.2020 Harriet Publicover לליאן, אהובי For Lian, my love ABSTRACT Meat, Milk and Scripture: Early Rabbinic Interpretations of the Biblical Prohibition of a Forbidden Mixture This thesis addresses the early rabbinic interpretations of the thrice repeated biblical commandment, you shall not cook a kid in his mother’s milk (Exodus 23:19; Exodus 34:26; Deuteronomy 14:21). While this commandment is considered to be the source of the Jewish prohibition of mixing meat and milk products, there is no evidence that such a dietary custom was practised until after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. In this sense, it may be assumed that this particular interpretation of the biblical commandment was a rabbinic innovation, perhaps inspired by a desire to create a protective buffer around the biblical prohibition of cooking a kid in his mother’s milk. Over the course of this thesis, I will illustrate how the rabbinic practice of separating meat and dairy was later systematically justified and given scriptural authority through the exegesis of this seemingly specific biblical commandment. -
Telling It Like It Is: YU Alumni in Journalism
YESHIVA UNIVERSITY ALUMNITODAYFALL 2013 Telling It Like It Is: YU Alumni In Journalism Ari Goldman ’71YC Shayndi Raice ’05S, ’07BR Gary Rosenblatt ’68YC Avital Chizhik ’12S he British playwright Tom Stoppard once said, “I still believe that if “I agree with Rabbi Chanina, who says in the Talmud that he learned the your aim is to change the world, journalism is a more immediate short- most from his students,” said Goldman. “My students have opened my eyes to Tterm weapon.” Yeshiva University is proud to have many alumni who so many new ideas and ways of thinking. What I try to teach my students is believe that the pen is mightier than the sword and who are changing the not explicitly in the Talmud, but it is certainly rooted there. I tell them to world through their written words. write about other people the way they would like to be written about—with respect, knowledge and sensitivity.” ARI GOLDMAN ’71YC: RELIGION AND REPORTING INTRINSICALLY TIED Goldman is excited whenever a YU graduate shows up in his classes at The decision to attend YU was not a difficult one for Ari Goldman, originally Columbia, and he encourages current students to truly consider a journalism from Hartford, CT. “It was the only school I applied to,” he said. His father, career if they maintain an interest in the field. “Don’t be afraid; take chances Rabbi Marvin Goldman, was a 1944 YC graduate; an uncle, Rabbi Israel and do something you love,” he said. “Many people told me that I shouldn’t be Miller, served as the senior vice president of YU; and another uncle, Rabbi a journalist, and said that I couldn’t be observant, that I couldn’t make a living.