The Legacy of Rav Soloveitchik

This Sunday in Toronto, but available for everyone online (register before Shabbos and participate from the comfort of home: online registration):The Legacy of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt"lSaturday December 2nd - 8:15-10:30 p.m.Sunday December 3rd - 9:30a.m.-3:30 p.m.Shaarei Shomayim Congregation470 Glencairn Avenue , TorontoHalachist, philosopher, teacher extraordinaire - the influence of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik on the history and direction of twentieth century Judaism was and remains immense. This conference will explore the many aspects of the Rav zt"l with those who learned from him, served him personally and continue his legacy.Speakers include:Rabbi Shalom Carmy, Professor of Bible, YUDr. Arnold Lustiger, Editor, Yom Kippur Machzor with commentary adapted from the teachings...

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Homosexuality in Halakhah VII

The Jewish media are reporting that the decision by the (Conservative) Rabbinical Assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards on homosexuality, postponed from earlier this year, is scheduled for next week (Jewish Week, Forward). While proposals range from advocating therapy to full acceptance of homosexual behavior, it is pretty much a given that the majority will vote for a lenient view. This will lead the way to JTS allowing active homosexuals into its rabbinic program.In truth, I think the most surprising thing is that this is even an issue in the Conservative movement. I applaud those in the Conservative movement who are struggling to uphold at least this biblical law.(Those who are comfortable reading the writings of Conservative scholars might be interested in reading Prof. Joel...

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Homiletics 101

Useful tidbit I learned in yeshiva:Never, ever start a devar Torah with the words "In this week's parashah". People will tune you out before you even have a chance to get started. Open with an interesting question or story to capture people's attention and then you have a fighting chance to maintain their intere...

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Da'as Torah IV

Menachem Kellner has an article in a new journal Covenant. The article is titled "Maimonides Agonist: Disenchantment and Reenchantment in Modern Judaism" and is an excerpt from his latest book (link).Setting aside many minor points, a central thesis to Kellner's article is the idea that to the Kuzari Jewish law represent metaphysical realities, while to the Rambam Jewish law is a social institution. For example, according to the Kuzari, something is tamei because it is inherently impure while according to the Rambam, it is labeled as such for social, educational, moral or historical reasons but not for any inherent reason. Again, accepting this distinction for the sake of argument, let us proceed to Kellner's next step -- Da'as Torah:The modern doctrine of da'at torah is thus clearly Halevian...

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Sherut Leumi

With the recent discussions of Sherut Leumi -- national service in Israel for women of army age -- I sent some questions about this issue to some friends and they came back with some interesting information. Keep in mind that the discussion has changed from what it once was: Sherut Leumi was originally proposed as a mandatory draft of young women, which great Torah scholars vehemently opposed. It is now an entirely voluntary program.It seems that R. Tzvi Yehuda Kook generally viewed Sherut Leumi favorably provided that a girl is placed in a spiritually appropriate atmosphere. Someone spoke on my behalf with R. Ya'akov Shapiro, the son of R. Avraham Shapiro, and he said that girls who may be influenced negatively should not do it. But for other girls, it is fine provided that they are in a...

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A Time to Act for the Lord

The following is an excerpt from my article "The Mehitzah Controversy: 50 Years Later" in BD"D vol. 17, an article that generally defends the requirement of a mehitzah and the positions of R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik and R. Moshe Feinstein in particular. Note that this excerpt is from an unedited draft of the article:While this essay has focused largely on reasons to require a mehitzah, it will now address a powerful, if ambiguous, case to permit or even require mixed seating in the synagogue. The laws of the Torah are eternally binding. However, while they are free from annulment by human hand there is an internal mechanism within the law by which it can be temporarily set aside in accommodation of a greater need. The classic example of such an occurrence was the abrogation of the prohibition...

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Call the Police?

This Sunday, Dec. 3 at 8pm, R. Hershel Schachter will be speaking in Teaneck on the topic of "Should I Call the Police? Clarifying the Issurim of Mesira and Chilul Hashem" and R. Benjamin Yudin on "Talking to Our Kids About the Birds and the Bees: Sanctifying the Intimate".Cong. Bnai Yeshurun, 641 West Englewood Avenue, Teaneck, N.J.Organized by Torah...

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Rambam on Being Paid to Learn or Teach Torah II

(continued from here)The Rambam wrote in his commentary to Mishnah (Avos 4:7) that one is not permitted to use Torah as a source of income, thereby implictly forbidding accepting a stipend for studying Torah and -- perhaps more radically -- receiving a salary for teaching Torah. And so Rambam ruled later in his Mishneh Torah (Hilkhos Talmud Torah 3:10). However, on this issue the Rambam was a lone voice and, even if not, his commentators are pretty clear that even the Rambam would permit it today because the economic environment demands it. As early as the sixteenth century, R. Yosef Karo in his Kessef Mishneh (ad loc.) wrote that the Rambam would agree that the situation demanded setting aside that law because of "Eis la'asos la-Shem" -- it is a time to act for the Lord by setting aside this...

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Agudah on Blogs II

(Follow-up from this post)After hearing speeches at the Agudah convention this past Thursday night, I experienced mixed emotions. Over the past few days, I've been discussing the three speeches with a number of people and I listened to R. Ephraim Wachsman's and R. Chaim Dovid Zwiebel's again (the recording of R. Matisyahu Salomon's speech was damaged). To their credit, the planners of this convention recognized a very current issue and placed it front and center, allowing three of their top stars to address it. They made a major Kiddush Hashem by stressing the vital importance of showing respect to Torah scholars and generally keeping the tone of our conversations respectful. In general, the message all three related was in its essence something with which I think most reasonable Jews will...

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The Beauty of Blogs

The Torah tells us that Ya'akov was a "quiet man, dwelling in tents" (Gen. 25:27). Why does it say "tents" in the plural? Rashi explains that Ya'akov studied Torah in the tent (i.e. academy) of Shem and the tent of Ever. But why did Ya'akov have to study in two different academies?R. Baruch Simon, in his Imrei Barukh, quotes R. Baruch Dov Povarski as explaining that someone who loves Torah will seek out the insights of all of the great Torah scholars. The Gemara in Avodah Zarah (19a) says that someone who learns from only one mentor will never see success in his Torah studies. Why? Because one needs multiple perspectives in order to grow.One of the wonderful aspects of the internet in general, and blogs in particular, is this access to Torah worlds that one would not ordinarily encounter....

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Agudah on Blogs

I just got back from the Agudah convention and I'm tired. I need to digest what was said before posting anything in detail. In short:- Very little direct mention of blogs.- R. Ephraim Wachsman made a number of statements that imply he knows very well what topics are discussed on blogs. I think he might have dinged me twice, but I'm not sure. [Once, if it was a reference to my recent post on the Rambam, is an understandable misunderstanding because I have not yet said, but will be"H soon be saying, "Eis la'asos la-Shem" on the subject.]- R. Matisyahu Salomon was surprisingly restrained.- Both R. Chaim Dovid Zwiebel and R. Matisyahu Salomon offered explicit statements of general tolerance, R. Zwiebel in saying "Aseh lekha rav" and R. Matisyahu Salomon in saying that questions and critiques that...

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Thanksgiving in Halakhah

Lectures about Thanksgiving by R. David Hirsch and R. Dani Rapp: l...

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Soul on Ice

R. Benzion Scheinfeld, my twelfth grade rebbe, in a letter to the current issue of The Jewish Week (link):Soul On IceAs a rabbi teaching in a high school and always keeping an eye out for insights that can penetrate the countless diversions and distractions that mask the true spiritual yearnings of a teen’s soul, I want to thank The Jewish Week for the beautiful front-page article on Benjamin Rubin, the religious aspiring hockey player. (“Jewish Soul On Ice,” Nov. 17)In a world where many of our youth (and many of us) are removed from or skeptical of the idea of a personal connection to Hashem, Benjamin’s story is particularly relevant. Many teens may wonder in astonishment why anyone would sit in a hotel room alone and possibly forfeit a lifelong dream of playing professional hockey because...

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Rambam on Being Paid to Learn or Teach Torah

This is the first post of a proposed series on the Rambam's position regarding being paid to learn or teach Torah. It is well known that the Rambam was of the view that it is forbidden to receive payment for learning or teaching Torah. However, some ask, did not the Rambam do precisely that? Did he not learn Torah while his brother, David, worked as a merchant and supported him? Only after his brother died tragically did Rambam start working.The answer seems to be that this is not true.Joel Kraemer, "Moses Maimonides: An Intellectual Portrait" in Kenneth Seeskin ed., The Cambridge Companion to Maimonides, p. 28:Biographers have written that as result of David's death Maimonides had to relinquish the life of a scholar and take up medicine as a profession, but there is no evidence for such a...

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Introducing the Bach: Rabbi Joel Sirkes

Now available from Yashar Books, Bach, Rabbi Joel Sirkes: His Life, Works and Times (expanded edition) by R. Elijah J. Schochet. Rabbi Joel Sirkes (1561-1640), better known by the acronym Bach, was one of the foremost Talmudic scholars and halakhists of Poland. He authored over 250 responsa as well as one of the premier commentaries upon the Arba'ah Turim of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher. Based on a careful analysis of Rabbi Sirkes' responsa and commentaries, Rabbi Schochet provides a vivid portrayal of the issues surrounding Polish Jewry at that time and Rabbi Sirkes' approach to Jewish law and thought.Originally published in 1971, this unique biography...

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Barukh Dayan Ha-Emes

Lamed is reporting that the great R. Eliezer Waldenberg, author of Responsa Tzitz Eliezer, has passed away. The great loss is felt by all those who love Tor...

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Before Torah

There is an interesting, albeit cynical (or, as some would say, realistic), post at Beyond BT about the dissonance between the interpersonal morals taught in the Orthodox community and how they are observed. As an "out-of-towner" (from New Jersey -- not Lakewood) who has lived in Brooklyn for over 12 years, this really came home to me a number of years ago regarding a man who sat near me in shul. He was usually learning Gemara, an admirable trait, but he did so even during the rabbi's speech despite sitting directly in front of the rabbi so that his disrespect was quite blatant. He also sat with his chair sticking out so that he blocked the narrow aisle between rows, and when anyone wanted to pass through (usually, his sons), he wouldn't budge. You'd have to squeeze and push, usually displacing...

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Metzitzah Be-Feh VIII

The latest issue of Jewish Action has two excellent articles on metzitzah be-feh, one by R. Daniel Korobkin and another by Dr. Mordechai Halperin. Granted, the articles come about a year and a half late, but they still add to the discussion. In particular, Dr. Halperin informs us of some of the political/meta-halakhic considerations in Israel -- it seems that there is a strong anti-circumcision movement there. If anything, his article highlights why we need to receive halakhic guidance from decisors who are familiar with the situation in our locale rather than dashing off to Israel whenever we have a questi...

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Challenge of Creation in Israel

After a delay due to shipping problems, The Challenge Of Creation has nowreached Israel! It is being distributed to stores by Judaica Book Centre in Jerusalem, 5 Even Yisrael St., Tel: 02-622-3215.You can also buy it directly from Rabbi Slifk...

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BD"D 17

A new issue of BD"D is out and an article of mine is in it -- The Mehitzah Controversy: 50 Years Latet. The article is slightly outdated because it was written before the collection of Rav Soloveitchik's articles was published, so the references are to the various articles in their original places.בד"ד חוברת 17דבר העורך היוצא דבר העורךזהר עמר - מתי פרצה טהרה יתרה בישראל ומתי פסקה?נתן אופיר (אופנבכר) - התכלת: הלכה, צבע ומדיטציהאברהם אופיר שמש - דטרגנטים, חומרי-ניקוי וסבונים במקורות היהודיים:מציאות היסטורית והלכה מעשיתמדור "הגיון"יעקב הכהן-קרנר,אילון מלין, יצחק חסון - מערכת הלומדת לסכם כתבים תורניים הלכתייםאריה קימלמן - נוסחאות בלוח היהודיביקורת ספריםיעקב מ' לוינגר - אור חדש האיר על מסכת חוליןאליקים קרומביין - ...

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Blessings on Types of Torah

The Gemara (Berakhos 11b) discusses exactly what consists the Torah on which one must recite blessings before studying. Rav Huna states that Scripture, the Written Torah, requires blessings but nothing else. R. Elazar adds Midrash, R. Yochanan adds Mishnah (meaning compilations of law) and Rava adds Talmud (meaning explanations of the compilations of law). The halakhah follows Rava. [On the order of this talmudic list, see Ma'adanei Yom Tov, ad loc. resh; Birkei Yosef, Orach Chaim 47:1.]The Talmidei Rabbenu Yonah (ad loc.) explain that the blessing on the Torah refers to the Written Law (Tanakh), and those who add other works do so because those works contain verses from Tanakh in varying degrees. Rashi (sv. af), however, explains that, according to Rava (the dominant view), one must recite...

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Tek-Noy

This CD is by a friend of mine, Yossi Sharf, so I'll give it a plug. It makes a great Chanukah gift for that hard-to-buy-for relative who doesn't read, because otherwise you would obviously by him a bo...

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Pitfalls of Kiruv

The relatively new blog Avakesh has a provocative post on the pitfalls of kiruv (outreach): link I'm not sure whether I agree with him or vehemently disagr...

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Internalizing Torah Values

R. Mayer Twersky (link):In addition to mastery and retention we have to internalize these teachings and beliefs; faith is incomplete if we only know the tenets of Judaism. Similarly, chessed, without being internalized can only be inadequately practiced; our personalities must be suffused with and defined by chessed.The transition from knowledge to internalization demands constant review and incessant reinforcement. Reinforcement upon reinforcement. This process, in our overly intellectualized climate of learning, seems alien and is oft times neglected. We study to master something new, to expand our horizons. Per force we review so that our horizons should not become constricted due to forgetfulness. But, once these aims have been achieved, it seems unproductive to undertake further review....

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A Concise History of Anti-Semitism in Persia

Yashar Books' Open Access Project has a new book for download. Rabbi Raphael Harris' The Concise History of Anti-Semitism in Persia documents the extensive history of Persian Jewry and the anti-semitism they faced throughout the ages. Rabbi Harris offers quick portraits of this illustrious community's history. Please take this exciting opportunity to spread Torah by making your friends aware of this download.If you don't already know, over the past year Yashar has published a number of excellent books, many of which make excellent Chanukah presents. In particular, note the books The Legacy of Maimonides and Gray Matter volume 2. Details and links are available at http://www.yasharbooks.com/shopThe Open Access book is available for free download at http://yasharbooks.com/Open/#currentEnj...

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Torah from Gentiles II

The Midrash (Eicha Rabbah 2:13) famously states that there is wisdom among the nations but not Torah. What does this mean? Does it mean that non-Jews are incapable of studying Torah and offering insights into it?R. Itzelleh Volozhiner (Peh Kadosh, Deut. 33:4) explains that to gentiles the study of Torah is like the study of any wisdom, absent the singular metaphysical status we believe it to have. Thus, to them the study of Torah is merely the study of wisdom. It does not mean that non-Jews are incapable of studying Torah or offering insights into it, because students of wisdom can also comprehend it and offer insights into it.(See also these posts: I, ...

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R. Dov Lior on Evolution

R. Dov Lior, Rosh Yeshiva and Rav of Kiryat Arba as well as head of Va'ad Rabbanei Yesha, was asked by a college student whether he is allowed to study evolution. R. Lior responds that he does not accept the theory of evolution but does not consider it objectionable:We can accept the view that there was evolution, on condition that we remember that the world has a Creator. How it exactly happened are details that do not matter much, once we have established the principle that there is a Creator of the world.אנחנו יכולים לקבל את ההנחה שהיתה אבולוציה, בתנאי שנזכור שיש בורא לעולם. איך זה קרה בדיוק, אלו פרטים שלא כל-כך משנים, אחרי שקבענו את היסוד שיש בורא לעולם.link (hat tip to Tsvi)On the subject of evolution, see R. Slifkin's article in The Jerusalem Post, The Problem with Intelligent Desi...

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Spirit Renewed III

The Canadian Jewish News reports on the recent Torah in Motion conference, specifically the panel discussion with me and Drs. Samuel Heilman, Marvin Schick and Adam Ferziger: link to arti...

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Soloveitchik the Movie

Lonely Man of Faith: The Life and Legacy of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, coming soon to a theater near you. It's a cheftza that is all about the gav...

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Culture

Avraham explained his lying about his wife to Avimelech because "רק אין יראת אלקים במקום הזה והרגוני על דבר אשתי - There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife."In 1936, after the Nazis had already risen to power, R. Elchanan Wasserman spoke at the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary, and asked why Avraham used the word "רק only". That implies that the people of that place (Gerar) had other things but just not the fear of God. R. Wasserman explained that the people of Gerar were very cultured. They had literature, music and all the fine aspects of culture. But because they did not have the fear of God, they were liable to kill in cold blood a visitor.The implication is two-fold and clear. In a timely message, R. Wasserman was criticizing the Nazi regime...

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You Might Be Modern Orthodox If...

What does it mean to be Modern Orthodox (MO)? I don't think that there is a single definition because the MO community is, for better or for worse, a big tent. From my perspective, sitting on the fence between the Ultra-Orthodox (UO) and MO communities, I have an interest in where the division lies. Both communities have members who are not fully observant or, as some call them, the MO-lite and the UO-lite. The MO community is often more attractive to the O-lite membership because it generally allows for greater individualism and privacy. But there are plenty of O-lite people who like the heimishe atmosphere or simply prefer to have the Judaism that they don't fully observe be more "authentic" or at least consistent with their ingrained views of what Judaism should be.But back to the main...

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Television, DVDs and Computer Games

After seeing this post in September, I sent in the following question to the Kollel Eretz Hemdah Ask the Rabbi function:Does Halacha forbid a child from playing computer games and watching DVDs? I saw an online source arguing that such activity is forbidden on many levels and causes children to leave the fold of Orthodoxy. If there are other views, it would be valuable to have them available online also.I received an answer in Modern Hebrew via e-mail last week. Below is my attempt at a translation followed by the Hebrew:Click here to read moreThe general rule to be applied here is "Don't look at the container but what it is in it."The television/DVD/computer are tools that record and use different programs. The fundamental test has to be an evaluation of the content.If there are, or are likely...

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Sha'atnez-Potato Chip Alert

Are potato chips with sha'atnez a problem? Not y...

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More Legacies

More in The Commentator's series on the legacies of Rav Soloveitchik (link):On Translating Ish ha-Halakhah with the Rav - Part 2 by Dr. Lawrence KaplanThe Rav: In and Out of the Classroom by R. Aaron RakeffetThe Rav: My Rebbe by R. Hershel Reich...

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The Mishnah Berurah Reaches an Important Milestone

Today is the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Mishnah Berurah (link). At the end of the final volume, the author/editor -- R. Yisrael Meir (Poupko) Kagan -- writes that he finished it on the 19th of Marcheshvan 5667 (1906). The Mishnah Berurah is an important compendium and summary of explanations and rulings on the Orah Chaim section of Shulchan Arukh (link). The commentary has risen to the level of a standard and essential text. However, because it is so easy to overstate the work's importance, let me add some words to the contrary. The Mishnah Berurah is not the final word on any matter, even though it is sometimes used as such by people incapable or uninterested in digging deeper. R. Hershel Schachter would often say that he never owned a Mishnah Berurah until his wife bought...

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Bookjed on Gray Matter 2

R. Shalom Berger reviews Gray Matter volume 2 by R. Chaim Jachter (link):...Every teacher who walks into the classroom should be well-prepared to present the assigned material for class. A good teacher also carries with him or her a valise full of "complementary educational materials" - vignettes of life experience, personal stories, anecdotes - that make the content of the class come alive and take on context and meaning. In this, the students at the Torah Academy of Bergen County are fortunate to have Chaim Jachter as their teacher. Aside from his position in the school, Rabbi Jachter serves as a Rabbinical judge on a New Jersey Bet Din, and...

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Spirit Renewed II

Audio from this conference are now available for purchase at the Torah in Motion websi...

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Cancelled Agunah Conference

R. Yosef Blau discusses R. Shlomo Amar's decision to cancel the Agunah conference (link):Rabbi Blau said that Rabbi Amar told them that some rabbis – without specifying which – felt that holding the conference would give the appearance that rabbis are responding to feminist pressure. However, Rabbi Blau says this accusation is an "insult to the chief rabbi of Israel and all the rabbonim who agreed to go." On the contrary, Rabbi Blau argued, canceling the conference "has strengthened feminist tendencies because now the perception is that rabbis are not willing to deal with the issue of agunos. The argument is backwards and upside down..."Ultimately, Rabbi Blau concluded, "this is not a women's issue; it's an issue of tzede...

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Human Initiative and Divine Providence

Dr. David Berger on the Chanukah miracle:Human Initiative and Divine Providence: A Hanukkah SermonDavid BergerParshat Miketz, which is regularly read on Hanukkah, begins with a reference to a two year delay between Joseph’s request that the butler mention him to Pharaoh and the dreams that finally led to the activation of that request. We are told that the reason for the delay was Joseph’s reliance on human intercession rather than providential intervention, in other words, his lack of bittahon. Because he used the verb zakhor twice in his request (ki im zekhartani…ve-hizkartani), he was punished by two additional years of incarceration. The butler did not remember him—and forgot him.Click here to read moreThe disturbing character of this assertion was brought home to me with special force...

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Renowned Jewish Historian Joins YU

Yeshiva University has recently hired for a full-time position one of the great heroes of Modern Orthodoxy, R. Dr. David Berger (link). Because of Dr. Berger's strongly voiced objections to Lubavitch Messianism, there is an e-mail chain going around protesting his hiring and recommending complaining to certain highly placed officials within YU. The e-mail concludes:You can help make a difference. Voice your concerns to the university administration by emailing:President Richard Joel - [e-mail address]Morton Lowengrub, PhD - [e-mail address]The truth is, I don't think anyone can force this decision to be undone. Nevertheless, those of us who support Dr. Berger and applaud this decision might want to contact those administrators above and let our views be heard as we...

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Science, Genesis and the Wondering Jew

Paul Shaviv reviews The Challenge of Creation in Canadian Jewish News: l...

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Is Milk Kosher?

It seems there is renewed discussion over whether milk (both Chalav Yisrael and plain milk) is kosher. The reason is that the percentage of non-kosher cows, particularly milking cows, discovered after slaughter is somewhere above 30% (some estimates are as high as 90%). If that is the case, then a large portion of milk comes from non-kosher cows and is therefore not kosher. The way milk is processed is that milk from a number of cows is mixed together. If milk in general is at least 30% non-kosher, then any mixture of milk -- which is what reaches the consumer -- contains at least 30% of non-kosher. The Shulchan Arukh (Yoreh De'ah 81:2) rules that if milk from a non-kosher cow is mixed in with milk from regular cows, the maximum allowed for bitul is one-sixtieth, 1.67%. Evidently, our milk...

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Stories of Depression

From R. Nati Helfgot (slightly edited):In 2001 (5762) I wrote an essay in Jewish Action on my experience with major depression and my road to healing (link). At the time I chose to share my personal story because of the many people I met along the way in the observant community who felt stigmatized and afraid to talk about their illness. In addition, I felt and continue to feel that those stigmas as well as much of the misinformation that many observant people have about mood disorders sometimes get in the way of people addressing some of their health issues and getting the help they need.Baruch Hashem, the essay was widely read and YCT Rabbinical School held a well-attended follow up conference co-sponsored by the OU and the Orthodox Caucus on the topic later that year in 2002. Today, five...

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Beis Yitzchak

Articles are currently being solicited for the next issue of Yeshiva University's Torah journal Beis Yitzchak.Deadline: Jan. 15 (handwritten); Feb. 15 typedSize: 12-15 pagesFormat: All articles must be in Hebrew, preferably typed on MS Word.Send all articles/questions/etc. to the edit...

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Can One Fulfill A Mitzvah Through A Microphone?

R. Chaim Jachter, Gray Matter volume 2, pp. 238-239:A number of early twentieth-century authorities believed that one can fulfill the mitzvot of shofar and Megillah even through a microphone system (see Encyclopedia Talmudit 18:749–753). However, they lacked access to precise scientific information, so they formulated their opinion based on common-sense perception, without conclusively knowing whether a microphone simply broadcasts a human voice or first transforms it into electronic signals.A number of prominent authorities who understood microphones more accurately nonetheless considered permitting their use for mitzvot that entail listening....

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Yashar Catalog

Download the new catalog for Yashar Books here (big PD...

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Rav Hirsch and College

Did R. Samson Raphael Hirsch go to college?R. Shnayer Leiman, "Rabbinic Openness to General Culture in the Early Modern Period in Western and Central Europe" in R. Jacob Schacter ed., Judaism's Encounter with Other Cultures, p. 183:At Bernays' suggestion, Hirsch, at age twenty, left for Mannheim to study at the yeshiva of R. Jacob Ettlinger. His studies at they yeshiva lasted for little more than a year, after which Hirsch enrolled for a year of study at the University of Bonn, where he studied, among other topics, classical languages and literature and environmental physics. This was clearly part of a laid-out plan that would provide him with the education and credentials necessary to succeed in the German rabbinate. Like Bernays and Ettlinger, Hirsch did not earn a college degr...

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Spirit Renewed

I just flew back from Toronto for this conference, and boy are my arms tired. When the audio becomes available, I highly recommend listening to the panel discussion entitled "Orthodoxy Encounters Modernity: A Dialogue on the Issues that Face Us" [UPDATE: It is now available]. Not because of my contribution but for the heated debate between Dr. Samuel Heilman and Dr. Marvin Schick. (Keep in mind that in this column, Dr. Schick referred to one of Dr. Heilman's ideas with the following: "To be generous, this is nuts.") Before the discussion, I whispered to the moderator that we should make sure the Heilman and Schick do not sit within striking distance of each other. It turned out to be a good call. [UPDATE: In all seriousness, Drs. Schick and Heilman are gentlemen and merely politely but strongly...

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Knowledge and Belief

The Midrash Rabbah (39:1) relates the famous midrash about Avraham seeing a house lit up and saying that the house must have someone watching over it. He similarly concluded that this world must also have a Being guiding it. At that point, God revealed Himself to Avraham and said that He is the owner of the world.R. Yitzchak Sorotzkin (Gevuras Yitzchak, no. 12) quotes the Brisker Rav as asking what purpose the last part of the midrash serves. Avraham had already deduced God's existence, so why did God have to reveal Himself to him?The Brisker Rav quotes the Beis Ha-Levi (end of Bo, p. 27b in the old editions) who writes:Whatever is clarified to a person through proofs is called knowledge and not belief. We are commanded to believe, but that is on matters that the mind cannot prove. As long...

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Beyond A Reasonable Claim

I was recently at my brother-in-law's home and flipped through his copy of R. Shmuel Waldman's Beyond A Reasonable Doubt. I came across the following statement (pp. 98-99):Virtually all contemporary Bible scholars no longer side with the conclusions of the early Bible critics. Except for a few real "diehards," they have retracted their claims. They all now agree that the evidence stands overwhelmingly against the Bible critics and their assertions. And, thus, nowadays most of them trust the Torah to be historically true and accurate even where no evidence has yet been found.I will assume that R. Waldman believes this to be true and simply does not know that it is verifiably incorrect. My questions are as follows:- Is someone who knows this to be incorrect allowed to repeat the claim anyway?-...

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Gedolim Who Went To College

Thanks to Tsvi, of these two blogs with Gedolim pictures: I,...

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The Problem with Proofs of God

R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, The Lonely Man of Faith (2006 edition, pp. 49-50n):The trouble with all rational demonstrations of the existence of God, with which the history of philosophy abounds, consists in their being exactly what they were meant to be by those who formulated them: abstract logical demonstrations divorced from the living primal experiences in which these demonstrations are rooted. For instance, the cosmic experiences was transformed into a cosmological proof, the ontic experience into an ontological proof, et cetera. Instead of stating that the most elementary existential awareness as a subjective "I exist" and an objective "the world around me exists" awareness is unattainable as long as the ultimate reality of God is not part of this awareness, the theologians engaged in...

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