DOCSLIB.ORG

Regular Empathy Training Rabbi Jonathan Ziring [King David] Said: There Are Three Ours Is a Singularly Ethical Culture, May Be, Developing Empathy Is Difficult

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Regular Empathy Training Rabbi Jonathan Ziring [King David] Said: There Are Three Ours Is a Singularly Ethical Culture, May Be, Developing Empathy Is Difficult בס“ד Parshiyot Behar-Bechukotai 27 Iyar, 5778/May 12, 2018 Vol. 9 Num. 33 To sponsor an issue of Toronto Torah for $180, please email [email protected] or call 416-783-6960 Regular Empathy Training Rabbi Jonathan Ziring [King David] said: There are three Ours is a singularly ethical culture, may be, developing empathy is difficult. distinguishing marks of the [the Jewish which expresses itself through a And without that emotion, they may not people]. They are merciful, they heightened regard for human rights extend their hands with sufficient are bashful, and they perform acts of and dignity. (Reflections of the Rav, willingness and empathy. kindness... Only one who has these pp. 190-191) three defining characteristics is fit to To solve this, G-d instituted Shemitah, cling to this nation. (Yevamot 79a) However, if experience is crucial for and once every fifty years, Yovel. With empathy, what happens when the the approach of Yovel, the wealthy land Our sages propound that Jews have a Egyptian slavery is but a distant owner will suddenly face the same set of shared spiritual characteristics. memory? On one level, it may be to doubts as his poor sharecroppers. His Rabbi Shemuel Eidels (Maharsha, avoid that very problem that we are next meals will be in doubt; his future ibid.) suggests that these traits are enjoined to remember the Exodus from insecure. He will not enjoy it, but genetic, inherited from Avraham. Egypt, both intensely on Pesach, and perhaps he will emerge a better person. However, even if that is the case, G-d more superficially on a daily basis. But did not rely on the Jewish people to is there more than memory – does the While Rabbi Saba does not connect have good moral “DNA”. Rather, He put Torah still mandate such experiences? Shemitah and Yovel to the ethical laws them through the Egyptian bondage, that invoke the memory of Egypt, it which the Torah (Devarim 4:20) Rabbi Avraham Saba (1440-1508) seems they are on the same trajectory. describes as the “iron furnace.” The argues that it does. (Tzror HaMor, G-d wants Jews to be as kind and image implies that the Jews needed to Vayikra 25) He wonders why the Torah generous as possible. When our nation be purified, sensitized, to forge their would command a Sabbatical year, was first born, it shared a national character. Shemitah, that would forbid people to trauma that would sensitize it to the plant their fields for an entire year, suffering of others. However, every fifty This is evident in the number of ethical leading them to the brink of destitution. years, approximately once or twice a commandments that are framed with Even more shockingly, once every fifty lifetime, G-d ensured that we go reminders that we were also slaves in years, Shemitah is followed by Yovel, through a lesser ordeal that aims at Egypt. By remembering when we were the Jubilee, causing every Jewish instilling the same. downtrodden, we are prodded towards farmer to face this situation for two empathy for the orphan, widow, slave, consecutive years. Perhaps one could [It should be noted that this does not and other less fortunate members of store food for one year. However, to necessarily imply that the Torah society. As Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik plant and store enough in the preceding opposes capitalism – just that it needs said: year to last almost four years, until the to be kept in check, a point made by The Egyptian experience may new crop would grow in the year Zeev Jabotinsky here: http:// therefore be regarded as the following Yovel, is nearly impossible. www.saveisrael.com/jabo/ fountainhead and moral inspiration jabojubilee.htm and Rabbi Alex Israel for the teaching of compassion which While some contend that this law is here: http://etzion.org.il/en/utopia] is so pervasive in Jewish Law. It meant to engender faith in G-d, Rabbi sharpened the Jew’s ethical Saba takes a different approach. He The challenge in our age of ease and sensitivity and moral awareness. The notes that ordinarily, wealthy people prosperity is to make sure we too can Midrash has R. Nehemiah say this cannot fathom the experiences of the empathize with those less fortunate explicitly: “the Egyptian bondage was poor. Try as they may, they cannot than ourselves. of great value for us, since it served to understand what it means to wonder implant within us the qualities of where one’s next meal will come from, [email protected] kindness and mercy.” (Mekhilta de- or, more tragically, to find nothing to Rabbi Shim’on bar Yohai Ex. 13:3) eat. Thus, kind and generous as they OUR BEIT MIDRASH ROSH BEIT MIDRASH ABBI ORDECHAI ORCZYNER R M T SGAN ROSH BEIT MIDRASH RABBI JONATHAN ZIRING AVREICHIM DAM RIEDMANN ARON EREZ A F , Y P CHAVERIM NADAV GASNER, COREY KAMEN, JAY KARON, BJ KOROBKIN, YEHUDA LEVI, COBY LYONS, ZACK MINCER, RONI PEREZ, JOSH PHILLIP, AARON ROSENFELD, MORDECHAI ROTH, DANIEL SAFRAN, EYTAN WEISZ, URIEL WEISZ, BARUCH WISE Find our upcoming shiurim on-line at www.torontotorah.com WOMEN’S BEIT MIDRASH RS RA IRING RS LLIEZRA EREZ M . O Z , M . E P CHAVEROT NOA BORDAN, MINDY CHAPMAN, SOFIA FREUDENSTEIN, LEORA KARON, We are grateful to ARIELLA SNOWBELL, MIRIAM RIVKA WEISS Continental Press 905-660-0311 והורשתם את הארץ וישבתם בה )במדבר לג( Marking the State of Israel’s 70th Year! Israeli Landmark: Peki’in Yaron Perez Peki’in is located in the Upper Galil, at the 11th century, when they fled Jewish community. Nonetheless, all of the foot of Mount Meron. persecution in Egypt. Jews also had the Jews left the area at that time. temporary settlements in the area, as Yosef and Mazal Zinati, with their Ancient Settlement well as a custom of visiting Rabbi daughter Margalit, returned after the Yitzchak Ben-Zvi, the second president Shimon bar Yochai’s cave for Pesach War of Independence; a family tradition of the State of Israel, was one of the Sheni. The custom is attested in Rabbi claims that they descended from important archaeologists to research Moshe Basula’s Book of Journeys (pg. kohanim who had lived there in the ancient Peki’in; his picture on Israel’s 17a) in 1522. Second Temple Period, and their family 100 NIS bill is accompanied by a had never left. In 1955, a new picture of Peki’in. He contended that In 1765, Rabbi Simcha ben Yehoshua community, “Peki’in haChadashah”, Jewish settlement in the area dated to visited and wrote about fifty farming was established nearby with the our entry into the land under Joshua, families living in a Jewish community support of President Yitzchak Ben-Tzvi. and was located in a place named Tel called “Peki’in”, in his Ahavat Zion. Charashim for the iron-workers There are reports of various In 2007, a quarrel over establishment (charashim) who lived there. Josephus communities moving to the area, of an antenna in Peki’in haChadashah mentioned Peki’in (“Beka”) in his Wars settling and then leaving, over the catalyzed riots by local youth. They of the Jews; he grew up not far from centuries thereafter – but a small attacked Jewish homes and kidnapped there. Other sources dating to the end Jewish community always remained a female police officer. This caused of the Second Temple Period mention beside the larger Druze community. some of the local Jews to leave. Margalit Peki’in as the city of Rabbi Yehoshua Zinati remains, though; she has opened ben Chananiah, who was a teacher of A synagogue, which remains standing a Visitors Centre to teach about the Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai today, was built in Peki’in in 1873; history of Jewish settlement in the was also a student of his, and per some claim it is on the site of the Beit area. Margalit lit a bonfire at the Kohelet Rabbah 10, he fled to a cave Midrash of Rabbi Yehoshua ben national ceremony this past Yom called “Peka”. One can visit a cave by Chananiah. ha’Atzmaut, representing our ancient that name in the area today, and see heritage in the land. remnants of a carob tree, and a spring, Modern Times near the cave. Before the State was established, [email protected] Arabs in the area sought to attack the The Middle Ages local Jews, but the Druze protected the Druze settlement in the area began in The Zionist Idea: The Centrality of Nationalism Adam Friedmann “Our state, the State of Israel, is the foundation of G-d’s was an ideological and political rift between the heirs of the throne in the world; its whole desire is that G-d be one and secular and religious Zionist movements. For many, this rift His Name be one.” This description was penned by Rabbi became painfully apparent for the first time in the execution Avraham Yitzchak Kook in one of his spiritual diaries. of the Disengagement Plan of 2005. The Israeli government (Notebook 1:186) While Rabbi Kook wrote before the founding reversed course on the initiative to settle parts of the Gaza of the State of Israel in 1948, his thinking has had a Strip. While the withdrawal from the Sinai in 1982 had been profound influence on religious Zionist leaders in Israel who traumatic, for many people this event represented the first used (and use) it to shape their world view. Following in his blatant anti-messianic/redemptive action that the state had father’s footsteps, Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah Kook stressed the committed. supreme importance, and, indeed, sanctity, of the state and government per se as embodying and actualizing the process The result was a notable shift in the attitudes of the of the messianic redemption.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Artscroll and More
    ArtScroll and More ArtScroll and More by Marc B. Shapiro Continued from here. 1. As mentioned, I believe that on occasion ArtScroll is unaware that the text it is explaining is a censored text. Sometimes it might even be an internally censored text (i.e., censored by Jews so as to avoid difficulties with the non- Jewish authorities). This same problem is often found with aharonim. How about with rishonim? For example, was Rashi ever misled by an internally censored text? I would hesitate to say so but this is exactly what is suggested by R. Elijah David Rabinowitz-Teomim (the Aderet), though he piously prefaces his .לולי דברי רש”י remarks with the words Sanhedrin 58b states: Resh Lakish said: A heathen who keeps a day of rest, deserves death, for it is written, “And a day and a night they shall not rest” (Gen. 8:22), and a master has said: Their prohibition is their death sentence. Ravina said: Even if he rested on a Monday. that the original version (פשוט) The Aderet sees it as obvious of Ravina’s statement was “Even if he rested on Sunday,” and this was changed to “Monday” due to fear of the Christians.[1] Rashi, however, offers an explanation as to why “Monday” is mentioned, meaning that if the Aderet is correct then even Rashi was misled by the altered text.[2] As part of his explanation on this passage, Rashi also This is the authentic .אחד בשבת ששובתין בו הנוצרים :writes version of Rashi which appears in the early Talmud printings.
    [Show full text]
  • Was the Chasam Sofer Inconsistent? a Review Essay
    239 Setting the Record Straight: Was the Chasam Sofer Inconsistent? A Review Essay By: NOSSON DOVID RABINOWICH In this essay we will discuss claims made in two recent articles, published by two leading scholars, to the effect that the Chasam Sofer was inconsistent and contradicted himself. I will attempt to show that those supposed “contradictions and inconsistencies” are either simply nonexistent or can be properly explained by careful and deliberate analysis of the actual sources and the issues involved. While my respect for Rabbi Moshe Sofer, the late “Chasam Sofer,” of blessed memory, is not merely that reserved for a great rabbi and outstanding scholar, I have endeavored to maintain a balanced and critical approach throughout. Nevertheless I feel it appropriate to note that from my perspective, Rabbi Sofer was a holy rabbi, a saint if you wish, whose towering scholarship in so many areas of Jewish studies was unmatched by his peers or by any rabbi from any subsequent generation. I do not hesitate to apply to him this popular saying: “From R. Moshe [Ben-Maimon; Maimonidies] until [R.] Moshe [Sofer] there was no one of the stature of R. Moshe [Sofer].”1 1 As the halakhic authority of his generation, he was probably more prolific than any other rabbi going back six hundred years, since the leading halakhic authority of the Golden Age in Spain, Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet. Of R. Sofer’s peers, only Rabbi Yosef Shaul Nathanson, She-elot Sho’el U’Maishiv, was known to have written more responsa. ______________________________________________________ Nosson Dovid Rabinowich is the Mara d'Asra of Beis Medrash Ahavas Torah, a prolific author, and teacher.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Beginning the Conversation
    NOTES 1 Beginning the Conversation 1. Jacob Katz, Exclusiveness and Tolerance: Jewish-Gentile Relations in Medieval and Modern Times (New York: Schocken, 1969). 2. John Micklethwait, “In God’s Name: A Special Report on Religion and Public Life,” The Economist, London November 3–9, 2007. 3. Mark Lila, “Earthly Powers,” NYT, April 2, 2006. 4. When we mention the clash of civilizations, we think of either the Spengler battle, or a more benign interplay between cultures in individual lives. For the Spengler battle, see Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996). For a more benign interplay in individual lives, see Thomas L. Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1999). 5. Micklethwait, “In God’s Name.” 6. Robert Wuthnow, America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005). “Interview with Robert Wuthnow” Religion and Ethics Newsweekly April 26, 2002. Episode no. 534 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week534/ rwuthnow.html 7. Wuthnow, America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity, 291. 8. Eric Sharpe, “Dialogue,” in Mircea Eliade and Charles J. Adams, The Encyclopedia of Religion, first edition, volume 4 (New York: Macmillan, 1987), 345–8. 9. Archbishop Michael L. Fitzgerald and John Borelli, Interfaith Dialogue: A Catholic View (London: SPCK, 2006). 10. Lily Edelman, Face to Face: A Primer in Dialogue (Washington, DC: B’nai B’rith, Adult Jewish Education, 1967). 11. Ben Zion Bokser, Judaism and the Christian Predicament (New York: Knopf, 1967), 5, 11. 12. Ibid., 375.
    [Show full text]
  • Faith Within Reason, and Without Adam Friedmann the Parshah Introduces Us to the He Began to Stray in His Thinking (From Was Never Destined to Have Children
    בס“ד Parshat Lech Lecha 11 Cheshvan, 5777/November 12, 2016 Vol. 8 Num. 10 This issue is sponsored by Jeffrey and Rochel Silver in memory of their dear friend, Moe Litwack z”l Faith Within Reason, and Without Adam Friedmann The parshah introduces us to the he began to stray in his thinking (from was never destined to have children. spiritual greatness of Avraham Avinu the idolatry of his surroundings) while However, Ramban (ibid. 15:2) notes that and recounts many of the trials that he was still small and began thinking part of Avraham’s concern stemmed he faced, as well as several day and night… And his heart strayed from his advanced age. Perhaps he interactions that he had with G-d. and understood until he comprehended didn’t merit the miracle required to have Only in the penultimate encounter, the path of truth and understood the a child at that stage. And yet, G-d which describes the brit bein habetarim route of justice using his correct promises that a direct child of Avraham (covenant between the parts) does intellect. And he knew that there is only will inherit him. It is in this moment Avraham speak. Responding to a one G-d and He conducts the spheres that the rational nature of Avraham’s promise from G-d, “I am your and He created everything, and there faith is challenged. In order to maintain protector, your reward is very isn’t any G-d in existence except Him.” his belief in G-d’s promise, Avraham great” (Bereishit 15:1), Avraham It was based on this awareness and the would need to abandon, at least in this expresses concern about his lack of conviction in the truth of his detail, his rational assumptions and progeny: “My Lord G-d, what can you philosophical analyses that Avraham move forward purely on the basis of his give me? I go childless…” (ibid.
    [Show full text]
  • Wrestling Demons
    WRESTLING WITH DEMONS A History of Rabbinic Attitudes to Demons Natan Slifkin Copyright © 2011 by Natan Slifkin Version 1.0 http://www.ZooTorah.com http://www.RationalistJudaism.com This monograph is adapted from an essay that was written as part of the course requirements for a Master’s degree in Jewish Studies at the Lander Institute (Jerusalem). This document may be purchased at www.rationalistjudaism.com Other monographs available in this series: Messianic Wonders and Skeptical Rationalists The Evolution of the Olive Shiluach HaKein: The Transformation of a Mitzvah The Question of the Kidney’s Counsel The Sun’s Path at Night Sod Hashem Liyreyav: The Expansion of a Useful Concept Cover Illustration: The Talmud describes how King Solomon spoke with demons. This illustration is from Jacobus de Teramo’s Das Buch Belial (Augsburg 1473). 2 WRESTLING WITH DEMONS Introduction From Scripture to Talmud and Midrash through medieval Jewish writings, we find mention of dangerous and evil beings. Scripture refers to them as Azazel and se’irim; later writings refer to them as sheidim, ruchot and mazikim. All these are different varieties (or different names) of demons. Belief in demons (and the associated belief in witches, magic and occult phenomena) was widespread in the ancient world, and the terror that it caused is unimaginable to us.1 But in the civilized world today there is virtually nobody who still believes in them. The transition from a global approach of belief to one of disbelief began with Aristotle, gained a little more traction in the early medieval period, and finally concretized in the eighteenth century.
    [Show full text]
  • THE IDEA of MODERN JEWISH CULTURE the Reference Library of Jewish Intellectual History the Idea of Modern Jewish Culture
    THE IDEA OF MODERN JEWISH CULTURE The Reference Library of Jewish Intellectual History The Idea of Modern Jewish Culture ELIEZER SCHWEID Translated by Amnon HADARY edited by Leonard LEVIN BOSTON 2008 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schweid, Eliezer. [Likrat tarbut Yehudit modernit. English] The idea of modern Jewish culture / Eliezer Schweid ; [translated by Amnon Hadary ; edited by Leonard Levin]. p. cm.—(Reference library of Jewish intellectual history) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-934843-05-5 1. Judaism—History—Modern period, 1750–. 2. Jews—Intellectual life. 3. Jews—Identity. 4. Judaism—20th century. 5. Zionism—Philosophy. I. Hadary, Amnon. II. Levin, Leonard, 1946– III. Title. BM195.S3913 2008 296.09’03—dc22 2008015812 Copyright © 2008 Academic Studies Press All rights reserved ISBN 978-1-934843-05-5 On the cover: David Tartakover, Proclamation of Independence, 1988 (Detail) Book design by Yuri Alexandrov Published by Academic Studies Press in 2008 145 Lake Shore Road Brighton, MA 02135, USA [email protected] www.academicstudiespress.com Contents Editor’s Preface . vii Foreword . xi Chapter One. Culture as a Concept and Culture as an Ideal . 1 Chapter Two. Tensions and Contradiction . 11 Chapter Three. Internalizing the Cultural Ideal . 15 Chapter Four. The Underlying Philosophy of Jewish Enlightenment . 18 Chapter Five. The Meaning of Being a Jewish-Hebrew Maskil . 24 Chapter Six. Crossroads: The Transition from Haskalah to the Science of Judaism . 35 Chapter Seven. The Dialectic between National Hebrew Culture and Jewish Idealistic Humanism . 37 Chapter Eight. The Philosophic Historic Formation of Jewish Humanism: a Modern Guide to the Perplexed .
    [Show full text]
  • Further Comments by Marc Shapiro,Benefits of the Internet
    Further Comments by Marc Shapiro Further Comments By Marc B. Shapiro I had thought that this would be my last post of the current batch, but it turned out to be too long. So I have divided it into two parts. Here is part no. 1. The volumes Shomrei Mishmeret ha-Kodesh, by R. Natan Raphael Auerbach, have just appeared. Here is the cover. This book is devoted to the Auerbach family, which was one of the great rabbinic families in Germany. They were the “A” in what was known as the ABC rabbinic families (the others being Bamberger and Carlebach). Over 150 pages are devoted to R. Zvi Benjamin Auerbach, who was the most prominent of the Auerbach rabbis. He was also the publisher of Sefer ha-Eshkol, to which he added his commentary Nahal Eshkol. In a number of posts I dealt with Auerbach’s edition ofSefer Ha-Eshkol, and discussed how both academic scholars and traditional talmidei hakhamim have concluded that the work is a forgery.1 Readers who are interested in the details can examine the earlier posts. In this newly published volume, which was called to my attention by Eliezer Brodt, the author speaks briefly about the Sefer ha-Eshkol controversy and responds to those who, in his words, continue to defame a gadol be-Yisrael (p. 382): הממשיכים לבזות גדול בישראל ולהכפישו באופן אישי In the note the author refers to Moshe Samet, who earlier had dealt with Sefer ha-Eshkol, and also to one of my posts on the Seforim Blog. While Seforim Blog posts have been cited in English scholarly writings, as far as I know this is the first time that there has been citation in a Hebrew volume.
    [Show full text]
  • Noah and the Flood
    THE BOOK OF JUBILEES AND THE MIDRASH PART 2: NOAH AND THE FLOOD ZVI RON INTRODUCTION The Book of Jubilees is a retelling of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus in the form of an angel speaking to Moses. It was written by a Jew in Hebrew some time around the early second century BCE, perhaps even earlier. The original Hebrew is lost to us today; our translations are based primarily on Ethiopic texts. Like the Midrash, Jubilees often supplements the Biblical nar- ratives with additional information; at other times, Jubilees provides a resolu- tion to a difficulty in the biblical text, another concern of Midrash. As such, the Book of Jubilees may be categorized as an early form of midrashic litera- 1 ture. Some of the interpretations in Jubilees are in fact preserved in the later midrashic literature. The title, "Book of Jubilees," reflects the author's partic- ular way of viewing the chronology of the world as a series of 49-nine year cycles, but it was also sometimes referred to as "The Little Genesis" ( Bereshit 2 3 Zuta in Aramaic), since it is an abbreviated retelling of Genesis. Jubilees was not incorporated into rabbinic literature, as it differs in some very fun- damental legal points – most famously the insistence on a purely solar calen- 4 dar, as opposed to the rabbinic lunar/solar model, and stringencies regarding 5 Shabbat observance. In a previous article ("The Book of Jubilees and the Midrash on the Early Chapters of Genesis", The Jewish Bible Quarterly , 41:3, July 2013) we saw how the Book of Jubilees dealt with various difficul- ties in the text of the early chapters of Genesis in ways occasionally similar and sometimes very different from the later rabbinic midrashic literature.
    [Show full text]
  • Fine Judaica, to Be Held November 29Th, 2007
    F INE JUDAICA . PRINTED BOOKS, MANUSCRIPTS, AUTOGRAPH LETTERS & GRAPHIC ART K ESTENBAUM & COMPANY THURSDAY NOVEMBER 29TH 2007 K ESTENBAUM & COMPANY . Auctioneers of Rare Books, Manuscripts and Fine Art Lot 131 Catalogue of F INE JUDAICA . PRINTED BOOKS, MANUSCRIPTS, AUTOGRAPH LETTERS & GRAPHIC ART Featuring: The First Edition Judenstaat. Boldly Inscribed and Signed by Theodor Herzl. An Illuminated Hagadah. Ferrara, 1767. ● An Illuminated Mohel-Book. Potsdam, 1795. A 19th-Century Jerusalem Pinkas Shadar Ledger to England. A 19th-century Hebrew Manuscript of Australian Appeal. A Custom Mohel-Book from the Island of Curacao. Three Substantial Autograph Manuscript Volumes by Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt. Autograph Letters of Signifi cant 20th-century Substance by Rabbis Feinstein, Grodzenski, Kotler, Soloveitchik, Teitelbaum, etc. Set of Twelve Watercolor Designs by Ze’ev Raban. ● An Acrylic by Zalman Kleinman. Arthur Szyk’s Statute of Kalisz, along with a further three scarce Szyk Works from the1920’s. And From a Private European Collection: A fi ne complete copy of the Sepher Ha’Ikrim, Soncino 1486. Along with important Early Printed Books from the same Collection, featuring books from the presses at: Fano, Pesaro, Rimini, Ortona, Riva di Trento, Constantinople, Salonika, Augsburg, Cracow etc. (Short-Title Index in Hebrew available upon request) ——— To be Offered for Sale by Auction, Thursday, 29th November, 2007, at 3:00 pm precisely ——— Viewing Beforehand on: Sunday 25th November - 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Monday 26th November - 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Tuesday, 27th November - 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Wednesday, 28th November - 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Thursday, 29th November - 10:00 am - 2:30 pm This Sale may be referred to as: “Kew” Sale Number Thirty-Eight Illustrated Catalogues: $35 (US) * $42 (Overseas) KESTENBAUM & COMPANY Auctioneers of Rare Books, Manuscripts and Fine Art .
    [Show full text]
  • R' Shlomo Yehuda Rapoport
    109 R’ Shlomo Yehuda Rapoport (Shir), Champion of Jewish Unity in the Modern Era By: CHAIM LANDERER In 1859 R’ Zechariah Frankel published his groundbreaking study, Darkhei HaMishna, which included a discussion of the origin of the Oral Law. In his book, Frankel refers to the Oral Law as being of great antiquity but makes no unequivocal statement of its Divine ori- gin. This caused a severe controversy that eventually led to the sepa- ration of Frankel’s Breslau school from traditional Judaism.1 An open letter was addressed to Frankel by a Hungarian Rabbi, Gottlieb Fischer. This was translated and published by R’ Samson Raphael Hirsch in his periodical Jeschurun (1860) and was followed by a series of critical essays in which Hirsch demanded that Frankel give 1 A sense of the position Frankel held among traditional Jews just prior to the controversy can be seen by the fact that the New Orleans com- mittee in charge of erecting a monument to the memory of the philan- thropist Judah Touro chose Frankel along with Rabbis Samson Raphael Hirsch, Nathan Adler of Hanover, and Solomon Judah Leib Rapoport of Prague to decide if such a monument may be constructed according to Halacha. See Three Years in America: 1859 –1862 Volume I, by I. J. Benjamin, translated from the German by Charles Reznikoff, p. 325 ff. (Philadelphia, 1956). An interesting description of Frankel’s personal piety can be found in the letter of the philosopher Hermann Cohen published in Hirsch’s Jeschurun 7 (1861) p. 297, in which he describes Frankel as an observant Jew who conducted himself in all respects in accord with the strict interpretation of Jewish law, such as “standing in the synagogue with the tallis over his head, singing zemiros on Shabbos, and also, sometimes commenting in his shiurim that the Yarei Shamayim (he who fears heaven) should be machmir!” cited in David Ellenson, “Wissenschaft Des Judentums, Historical Consciousness, and Jewish Faith: The Diverse Paths of Frankel, Auerbach and Halevy,” The Leo Baeck Memorial Lecture, n.
    [Show full text]
  • Link to Rabbi Levi Isaak of Berdichev
    Gelles - Shapiro - Friedman _______________ © Copyright Shaker Publishing and Edward Gelles 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. Printed in The Netherlands. ISBN 978-90-423-0370-6 Shaker Publishing BV St. Maartenslaan 26 6221 AX Maastricht Tel.: 043-3500424 Fax: 043-3255090 http:// www.shaker.nl Dr. Edward Gelles E-mail : [email protected] + + + ! " # + $ The millennial family background $% & ' ) (% Shapiro Connections $4 !" Gelles – Shapiro )% * + (5 Gelles - Friedman ,% '- ,/ . Gelles family history /% 04 0%12 . 6/ " ! " $7) - # $74 R $$4 # $ " % && & $ " % &' ( ) % * +#,-(. /0 / ) %1$ * +#2(#. /# ' $ " %3* /( 4 $ 5 " 6 * 7 +#-(/. ,4 , $ 5* 6 * 8 +#-(4. ,, 2 8 M: 3 ; 8#-/#<#-/& 2& - = :5:> * + ". -/ #0 * " :5:> * 6 +#-&&. -, ## :5:> * "7 +#-''. -, #& ? :5:> * 7 #0& # %$ #4 & * 8 $ @ (/ ( 8 " /- /)* 2( > # 8 > ? >! > > 2 & @ " $ A7 6 $" ; 6 <) #0 5: :> * % "* ## (% B@ " : #& /@ " M! <8 #( ' " #/ 4 <: #2 , " M " &0 2 <? > M +. &( - : &4 #0 M !" @ > 7 &, ## : * 8 @ /& #& *> %3* 7 4/ #( 6 *
    [Show full text]
  • CCAR RESPONSA Who Is a Rabbi? She'elah a New Congregation Has
    CCAR RESPONSA 5759.3 Who Is a Rabbi? She'elah A new congregation has been formed in my city, founded by a woman who has attended the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism (IISHJ), the rabbinical school of the Society for Humanistic Judaism. She serves as the congregation's rabbi, even though she has yet to be ordained by that school. She has been licensed by the state to perform weddings, and also does conversions. Should we accept these conversions as valid, even though they were supervised by someone other than an ordained rabbi? In general, what is our position with respect to individuals who have received private ordination or who claim to possess ordination from seminaries, schools or yeshivot with which we are unfamiliar? Do we recognize them as rabbis? Do we accept them as colleagues in our communities? Teshuvah 1. Conversions Supervised by a Layperson. Your first question has been addressed quite clearly by the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR). We hold that, while "a rabbinical beit din is desirable for giyur ," conversion should at any rate take place in the presence of a rabbi and no fewer than two lay leaders of the community.[1] We base this position upon considerations of both a halakhic and a practical nature. Our tradition teaches that conversion must take place in the presence of a beit din , a court of Jewish law.[2] The Rabbis derive this requirement through a midrash , the interpretation of biblical verses[3] in which the Hebrew root sh-p-t ("judgment") appears in connection with the word ger , or "proselyte."[4] The precise make-up of this court is a matter of dispute in the literature; some contend that the Torah itself requires that a beit din consist of no fewer than three judges,[5] while others believe that one judge is sufficient and that the requirement of three judges in cases other than penal law is a rabbinic stringency.[6] Both views agree, however, that the judges must be knowledgeable of the law and qualified for their task.
    [Show full text]