Reflections on Jewish Death & Mourning
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Halachic and Hashkafic Issues in Contemporary Society 91 - Hand Shaking and Seat Switching Ou Israel Center - Summer 2018
5778 - dbhbn ovrct [email protected] 1 sxc HALACHIC AND HASHKAFIC ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY 91 - HAND SHAKING AND SEAT SWITCHING OU ISRAEL CENTER - SUMMER 2018 A] SHOMER NEGIAH - THE ISSUES • What is the status of the halacha of shemirat negiah - Deoraita or Derabbanan? • What kind of touching does it relate to? What about ‘professional’ touching - medical care, therapies, handshaking? • Which people does it relate to - family, children, same gender? • How does it inpact on sitting close to someone of the opposite gender. Is one required to switch seats? 1. THE WAY WE LIVE NOW: THE ETHICIST. Between the Sexes By RANDY COHEN. OCT. 27, 2002 The courteous and competent real-estate agent I'd just hired to rent my house shocked and offended me when, after we signed our contract, he refused to shake my hand, saying that as an Orthodox Jew he did not touch women. As a feminist, I oppose sex discrimination of all sorts. However, I also support freedom of religious expression. How do I balance these conflicting values? Should I tear up our contract? J.L., New York This culture clash may not allow you to reconcile the values you esteem. Though the agent dealt you only a petty slight, without ill intent, you're entitled to work with someone who will treat you with the dignity and respect he shows his male clients. If this involved only his own person -- adherence to laws concerning diet or dress, for example -- you should of course be tolerant. But his actions directly affect you. And sexism is sexism, even when motivated by religious convictions. -
Understanding Mikvah
Understanding Mikvah An overview of Mikvah construction Copyright © 2001 by Rabbi S. Z. Lesches permission & comments: (514) 737-6076 4661 Van Horne, Suite 12 Montreal P.Q. H3W 1H8 Canada National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data Lesches, Schneur Zalman Understanding mikvah : an overview of mikvah construction ISBN 0-9689146-0-8 1. Mikveh--Design and construction. 2. Mikveh--History. 3. Purity, Ritual--Judaism. 4. Jewish law. I. Title. BM703.L37 2001 296.7'5 C2001-901500-3 v"c CONTENTS∗ FOREWORD .................................................................... xi Excerpts from the Rebbe’s Letters Regarding Mikvah....13 Preface...............................................................................20 The History of Mikvaos ....................................................25 A New Design.............................................................27 Importance of a Mikvah....................................................30 Building and Planning ......................................................33 Maximizing Comfort..................................................34 Eliminating Worry ......................................................35 Kosher Waters ...................................................................37 Immersing in a Spring................................................37 Oceans..........................................................................38 Rivers and Lakes .........................................................38 Swimming Pools .........................................................39 -
I. the Rodef Shalom in Rabbinic Texts Study the Following Mishnah (3Rd Century CE, Land of Israel) Carefully in Havruta (Study Partner)
The Rodef Shalom: From Text to History to Global Network Rabbi Daniel Roth, PhD Pardes Center for Judaism and Conflict Resolution [email protected] I. The Rodef Shalom in Rabbinic Texts Study the following Mishnah (3rd Century CE, Land of Israel) carefully in havruta (study partner). Make a list of all of the questions you can think of on this Mishnah. משנה אבות א:יב Mishnah, Avot, 1:12 הלל אומר: :Hillel says הווי תלמידו של אהרן. .Be a student of Aaron אוהב שלום A lover of peace ורודף שלום ,(A pursuer of peace (rodef shalom אהב את הבריות ,A lover of people ומקרבן לתורה. .Who brings them closer to Torah ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________ [Save for Group Discussion] 1. Why Be a Student of Aaron? Why do you think the Mishnah first said to be a student of Aaron’s, instead of just “a lover of peace and pursuer of peace"? How does Rabbi Shmuel de Ozedah (16th century Tzfat, Land of Israel) answer this question in his commentary on the mishnah? ר' שמואל די אוזידא, מדרש שמואל אבות Midrash Shmuel, Avot 1:12 (Rabbi Shmuel de א:יב (Ozedah And it is possible that he said "be of the students of ואיפשר עוד שאמר "הוי מתלמידיו של Aaron," and did not (just) say "be a lover of peace" since אהרן" ולא אמר 'הוי אוהב שלום' לפי שכל every person in their own eyes is a lover of peace, and אדם בעיני עצמו הוא אוהב שלום ואף אם even if he is a person of strife and conflict, he does not הוא איש ריב ומדון אינו רואה חובה לעצמו see any fault with himself. -
TEMPLE ISRAEL OP HOLLYWOOD Preparing for Jewish Burial and Mourning
TRANSITIONS & CELEBRATIONS: Jewish Life Cycle Guides E EW A TEMPLE ISRAEL OP HOLLYWOOD Preparing for Jewish Burial and Mourning Written and compiled by Rabbi John L. Rosove Temple Israel of Hollywood INTRODUCTION The death of a loved one is so often a painful and confusing time for members of the family and dear friends. It is our hope that this “Guide” will assist you in planning the funeral as well as offer helpful information on our centuries-old Jewish burial and mourning practices. Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary (“Hillside”) has served the Southern California Jewish Community for more than seven decades and we encourage you to contact them if you need assistance at the time of need or pre-need (310.641.0707 - hillsidememorial.org). CONTENTS Pre-need preparations .................................................................................. 3 Selecting a grave, arranging for family plots ................................................. 3 Contacting clergy .......................................................................................... 3 Contacting the Mortuary and arranging for the funeral ................................. 3 Preparation of the body ................................................................................ 3 Someone to watch over the body .................................................................. 3 The timing of the funeral ............................................................................... 3 The casket and dressing the deceased for burial .......................................... -
Lincoln Square Synagogue for As Sexuality, the Role Of
IflN mm Lincoln Square Synagogue Volume 27, No. 3 WINTER ISSUE Shevat 5752 - January, 1992 FROM THE RABBI'S DESK.- It has been two years since I last saw leaves summon their last colorful challenge to their impending fall. Although there are many things to wonder at in this city, most ofthem are works ofhuman beings. Only tourists wonder at the human works, and being a New Yorker, I cannot act as a tourist. It was good to have some thing from G-d to wonder at, even though it was only leaves. Wondering is an inspiring sensation. A sense of wonder insures that our rela¬ tionship with G-d is not static. It keeps us in an active relationship, and protects us from davening or fulfilling any other mitzvah merely by rote. A lack of excitement, of curiosity, of surprise, of wonder severs our attachment to what we do. Worse: it arouses G-d's disappointment I wonder most at our propensity to cease wondering. None of us would consciously decide to deprive our prayers and actions of meaning. Yet, most of us are not much bothered by our lack of attachment to our tefilot and mitzvot. We are too comfortable, too certain that we are living properly. That is why I am happy that we hosted the Wednesday Night Lecture with Rabbi Riskin and Dr. Ruth. The lecture and the controversy surrounding it certainly woke us up. We should not need or even use controversy to wake ourselves up. However, those of us who were joined in argument over the lecture were forced to confront some of the serious divisions in the Orthodox community, and many of its other problems. -
The Humanity of the Talmud: Reading for Ethics in Bavli ʿavoda Zara By
The Humanity of the Talmud: Reading for Ethics in Bavli ʿAvoda Zara By Mira Beth Wasserman A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Joint Doctor of Philosophy with Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley in Jewish Studies in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Daniel Boyarin, chair Professor Chana Kronfeld Professor Naomi Seidman Professor Kenneth Bamberger Spring 2014 Abstract The Humanity of the Talmud: Reading for Ethics in Bavli ʿAvoda Zara by Mira Beth Wasserman Joint Doctor of Philosophy with Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley University of California, Berkeley Professor Daniel Boyarin, chair In this dissertation, I argue that there is an ethical dimension to the Babylonian Talmud, and that literary analysis is the approach best suited to uncover it. Paying special attention to the discursive forms of the Talmud, I show how juxtapositions of narrative and legal dialectics cooperate in generating the Talmud's distinctive ethics, which I characterize as an attentiveness to the “exceptional particulars” of life. To demonstrate the features and rewards of a literary approach, I offer a sustained reading of a single tractate from the Babylonian Talmud, ʿAvoda Zara (AZ). AZ and other talmudic discussions about non-Jews offer a rich resource for considerations of ethics because they are centrally concerned with constituting social relationships and with examining aspects of human experience that exceed the domain of Jewish law. AZ investigates what distinguishes Jews from non-Jews, what Jews and non- Jews share in common, and what it means to be a human being. I read AZ as a cohesive literary work unified by the overarching project of examining the place of humanity in the cosmos. -
Toward a Gender-Inclusive Hevra Kadisha
Toward A Gender-Inclusive Hevra Kadisha 1 Tahara I’m wondering about you, chevra kadisha, the “holy society,” who will prepare my body, once I’m no longer in it, for the earth. Will you know me already, or see me for the first time as you wash and shroud me, as my father was washed and dressed in simple white tachrichim, for those about to stand before God. Perhaps by then I’ll know if I believe in God. I like the democratic nature of the shroud, an equalizing garment. You may see a body that surprises you. You may not have seen a man’s body like this one before you, which I hope is very old, wrinkled, and (since I’m wishing) fit, muscled as much as an old man can be. You’ll see scars. Ragged dog bit forearm, elbow my father picked gravel from over the sink, then flushed with foaming iodine, and the long double horizons on my chest, which trunked my body like a tree. If I am unexpected, let me not seem grotesque to you, as I have to many people, perhaps even my own parents, and others whose highest kindness was to say nothing. Please let me return to dust in peace, as the others did, and recite those beautiful psalms, remembering, as you go about your holy ritual, how frightening it is to be naked before another, at the mercy of a stranger’s eyes, without even any breath. -Miller Oberman Copyright © 2019 by Miller Oberman Originally published in Poem-a-Day on December 10, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets. -
Burial of a Non Jewish Spouse and Children Rabbi Kassel Abelson Rabbi Loel M
Burial of a Non Jewish Spouse and Children Rabbi Kassel Abelson Rabbi Loel M. Weiss This paper was approved on February 2, 2010, by a vote of ten in favor (10-1-3). Voting in favor: Rabbis Kassel Abelson, Elliot Dorff, Robert Fine, Susan Grossman, Aaron Mackler, Daniel Nevins, Paul Plotkin Avram Reisner, Loel Weiss, and Steven Wernick. Voting against: Rabbi Miriam Berkowitz. Abstaining: Josh Heller, Rabbis Jay Stein, and David Wise. The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly provides guidance in matters of halakhah for the Conservative movement. The individual rabbi, however, is the authority for the interpretation and application of all matters of halakhah. “We bury non-Jewish dead and comfort their mourners so that we follow the ways of peace” YD 370.1.2010. vkta: May a non-Jewish spouse or children of an interfaith marriage be buried in a separate section of a Jewish Cemetery? If so, what kind of ceremony should it be, and who should officiate at the ceremony? vcua,: These questions are being asked more and more frequently by our colleagues. The growing concern about these questions reflects the growing number of interfaith marriages in our Conservative communities. The Jewish Cemetery in Antiquity In Biblical times burials took place in a burial place owned by the deceased and reserved for members of the family. Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah so that he could bury his wife Sarah in a family burial plot.1 Jacob made his son Joseph swear to bring his body to the land of Canaan so that Jacob could be buried -
A Guide to Our Shabbat Morning Service
Torah Crown – Kiev – 1809 Courtesy of Temple Beth Sholom Judaica Museum Rabbi Alan B. Lucas Assistant Rabbi Cantor Cecelia Beyer Ofer S. Barnoy Ritual Director Executive Director Rabbi Sidney Solomon Donna Bartolomeo Director of Lifelong Learning Religious School Director Gila Hadani Ward Sharon Solomon Early Childhood Center Camp Director Dir.Helayne Cohen Ginger Bloom a guide to our Endowment Director Museum Curator Bernice Cohen Bat Sheva Slavin shabbat morning service 401 Roslyn Road Roslyn Heights, NY 11577 Phone 516-621-2288 FAX 516- 621- 0417 e-mail – [email protected] www.tbsroslyn.org a member of united synagogue of conservative judaism ברוכים הבאים Welcome welcome to Temple Beth Sholom and our Shabbat And they came, every morning services. The purpose of this pamphlet is to provide those one whose heart was who are not acquainted with our synagogue or with our services with a brief introduction to both. Included in this booklet are a history stirred, and every one of Temple Beth Sholom, a description of the art and symbols in whose spirit was will- our sanctuary, and an explanation of the different sections of our ing; and they brought Saturday morning service. an offering to Adonai. We hope this booklet helps you feel more comfortable during our service, enables you to have a better understanding of the service, and introduces you to the joy of communal worship. While this booklet Exodus 35:21 will attempt to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about the synagogue and service, it cannot possibly anticipate all your questions. Please do not hesitate to approach our clergy or regular worshipers with your questions following our services. -
Download Scrolls SW Affidavit
Case 1:21-mj-00837-PK Document 1 Filed 07/20/21 Page 1 of 18 PageID #: 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – X IN RE THE SEIZURE OF: AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF SEIZURE WARRANT TWENTY-ONE JEWISH FUNERAL SCROLLS, AND WRIT OF ASSISTANCE PINKAS MANUSCRIPTS AND COMMUNITY RECORDS FROM COMMUNITIES IN 21-MJ-837 ROMANIA, HUNGARY, UKRAINE AND SLOVAKIA AS SET FORTH IN EXHIBIT A (Kuo, M.J.) HERETO – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – X EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, SS: MEGAN BUCKLEY, Special Agent with the Department of Homeland Security, being duly sworn, deposes and says: 1. I am a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) and have been so employed by HSI and its predecessor agencies for approximately 16 years. I am currently assigned to the Cultural Property, Art, and Antiquities Group at HSI. I have investigated, among other matters, criminal activity related to artwork and antiquities, including theft, fraud, and other crimes involving highly regarded works of art such as paintings, sculptures, and antiquities. I have personally participated in the instant investigation. 2. During the course of my employment with HSI, I have executed dozens of search warrants at personal residences, and I have employed various investigative techniques, including physical and electronic surveillance, consensual recording, seizure and review of digital and physical evidence, utilization of confidential human sources and cooperating witnesses, Case 1:21-mj-00837-PK Document 1 Filed 07/20/21 Page 2 of 18 PageID #: 2 undercover operations, and financial analysis. I have been trained on the laws relating to searches and seizures at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Facility in Glynco, Georgia. -
“Cliff Notes” 2021-2022 5781-5782
Jewish Day School “Cliff Notes” 2021-2022 5781-5782 A quick run-down with need-to-know info on: • Jewish holidays • Jewish language • Jewish terms related to prayer service SOURCES WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE INFORMATION FOR THIS BOOKLET WAS TAKEN FROM: • www.interfaithfamily.com • Living a Jewish Life by Anita Diamant with Howard Cooper FOR MORE LEARNING, YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN THE FOLLOWING RESOURCES: • www.reformjudaism.org • www.myjewishlearning.com • Jewish Literacy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin • The Jewish Book of Why by Alfred J. Kolatch • The Jewish Home by Daniel B. Syme • Judaism for Dummies by Rabbi Ted Falcon and David Blatner Table of Contents ABOUT THE CALENDAR 5 JEWISH HOLIDAYS Rosh haShanah 6 Yom Kippur 7 Sukkot 8 Simchat Torah 9 Chanukah 10 Tu B’Shevat 11 Purim 12 Pesach (Passover) 13 Yom haShoah 14 Yom haAtzmaut 15 Shavuot 16 Tisha B’Av 17 Shabbat 18 TERMS TO KNOW A TO Z 20 About the calendar... JEWISH TIME- For over 2,000 years, Jews have juggled two calendars. According to the secular calendar, the date changes at midnight, the week begins on Sunday, and the year starts in the winter. According to the Hebrew calendar, the day begins at sunset, the week begins on Saturday night, and the new year is celebrated in the fall. The secular, or Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar, based on the fact that it takes 365.25 days for the earth to circle the sun. With only 365 days in a year, after four years an extra day is added to February and there is a leap year. -
Counterfactual Truth in Science and the Talmud
Article Gulliver and the Rabbis: Counterfactual Truth in Science and the Talmud Menachem Fisch The Cohn Institute for History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel; [email protected] Received: 3 March 2019; Accepted: 23 March 2019; Published: 26 March 2019 Abstract: The paper presents Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels as the first systematic attempt to claim that the normal methods of testing belief and opinion for clarity, consistence, coherence, and how they stand to the facts are powerless when applied to deep-seated normative commitments, or what Wittgenstein dubbed “framework truths.” To subject our norms to normative critique requires a measure of self-alienation that cannot be achieved merely by looking hard at or thinking hard about our world and ourselves. However, by closely examining the contrived counterfactual scenarios (or, as I have shown in former work, by exposure to the normative critique of significant others), that Swift is shown to claim, such normative framework assumptions can be challenged to great effect! The standard epistemologies of his day—Baconian empiricism and Cartesian rationalism—fiercely ridiculed in the course of Gulliver’s third voyage are cruelly dismissed as powerless to change the course of science and keep it in normative check. The transformative effect of the clever thought experiments presented in the three other voyages (of imagining London shrunk to a twelfth of its size and enlarged to giant proportions, and a more responsible and intelligent race of beings inserted above (normally sized) humans) enable Swift to obtain critical normative distance from several major assumptions about politics, religion, aesthetics, ethics, and much more, including the limits of the thought experiment itself.