Menachem Mendel

The Beit Hillel inaugural conference (here, here, and here) is just underway. Rabbi Reuven Spolter is hoping to tweet from the conference. See this post of his about Beit Hillel. His twitter feed can be found here.

February 2nd, 2012 | Category: Rabbinic Authority, Religion in Israel, Religious Authority, Religious Zionism | Comments (1)

Please spread the word about this one-day conference on Patrilineal Descent in a Pluralistic Community.  Information about the event can be found here.

Patrilineal Descent in a Pluralistic Community

February 1st, 2012 | Category: Public Events | Leave a comment

Haaretz has translated an article into English about Beit Hillel.

The group, to be known as Beit Hillel, already has 110 rabbis signed up, along with 30 women who are considered Torah scholars. It was founded by congregational rabbis in the central region, who say they represent the silent majority of the national-religious population that is frustrated and alarmed by creeping extremism and the deterioration of women’s status in the sector. Beit Hillel is granting participating women equal voting rights and influence in the organization.

“We cannot remain silent anymore; we have to state our position clearly,” said Oshra Koren, the director of the Raanana branch of Matan, an institute of advanced Torah study for women based in Jerusalem.

She and a group of 10 rabbis who lead Modern Orthodox congregations formulated the plan after receiving persistent calls from congregants to do something.

“The need for such an organization has been evident for some time,” Koren said. “But the frustration grew following the recent events involving the exclusion of women.

“The big push came when women who know my views urged me to express them publicly,” she said. “People are thirsty for guidance from our leadership on all public issues and news events, and they are frustrated that there has been no clear, balanced and nuanced statement on these questions, as if we are distancing ourselves from religious-Zionist values.”

Rabbi Chaim Navon addressed the issue of a split within religious zionism.

While Beit Hillel prefers to stress its positive positions, the group’s founding reflects the growing rift within the religious-Zionist sector.

“To our great sorrow, religious Zionism is already split,” said Rabbi Chaim Navon, rabbi of the Shimshoni congregation in Modi’in. “But only one faction’s voice was being heard. We are the voice of the other part, that hasn’t been sufficiently heard.”

For previous posts on Beit Hillel see here and here.

January 30th, 2012 | Category: Religion in Israel, Religious Authority, Religious Zionism | Comments (1)

Today’s Makor Rishon has an article about Beit Hillel, a new rabbinic organization that I wrote about here. The organization sees itself as a more moderate religious zionist voice. The article notes that the membership of Beit Hillel includes thirty talmidot ḥachamim, female Torah scholars.

January 26th, 2012 | Category: Religion in Israel, Religious Authority, Religious Zionism | Comments (9)

Norman Solomon, the author of The Analytic Movement: Hayyim Soloveitchik and his School and The Talmud: A Selection (Penguin Classics), has published a new book, Torah from Heaven: The Reconstruction of Faith.

From the publisher:

Traditional Jewish religious belief speaks of a divinely revealed, perfect text, authoritatively expounded. The question this book addresses is one with which the author has struggled all his life: in the light of historical criticism, advances in knowledge, and changing moral attitudes, is the traditional notion of divine revelation and authoritative interpretation still valid? The focus is on Judaism but the arguments are easy to transpose to other religions.

January 26th, 2012 | Category: Jewish Thought, New Books | Leave a comment

I stumbled upon this article in the June 30, 1950 edition of the Jewish Times from Baltimore.

January 24th, 2012 | Category: Miscellaneous | Comments (1)

Joseph Cedar, the director of Footnote, is interviewed in the New York Times. Tomorrow the five nominees for the category of Best Foreign-Language Film will be announced.

Q. What made you want to explore this particular world of Talmudic scholarship?

A. In the beginning I was working with a story about a father and son and the confusion that occurs because of an award. I was looking for a field for them to be in and came across the Talmud department. It changed the whole direction of the story and gave the film its shape and content. It’s a great department and I spent time gossiping with people from the inside. It’s a place that has no limits because of the nature of the people, whose stubbornness is extremely dramatic. Or tragic. I don’t know. But I was attracted to these people.

January 23rd, 2012 | Category: Israel, Israeli Culture, Popular Culture | Leave a comment

Friday’s Yediot Aḥaronot published an article about potential legal troubles for the family of Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef. The article describes how a close family member sent a letter to the Attorney General describing how the Yosef family has been trying to take over positions within the Chief Rabbinate through the appointment of family members. There seems to be a conflict of interest in these appointments, and other politicians have been indicted for similar actions. One of the positions mentioned in the article is that of Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem.  I posted here about how Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef’s son, is a likely candidate for the position.

The article hints that someone very close to Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, for whatever reason, decided to spill the beans. Even if there is no criminality, to me it is clear that this is more evidence that religion is corrupted by money and political power. It becomes just another commodity to be traded.

Update:  According to this discussion on Behadrei Hareidim, the person who sent the letter is Rabbi David Yosef.  Rabbi David Yosef is the author of Halakhah Berurah, a comprehensive commentary on the Shulhan Arukh.  This also comes soon after another son who has been somewhat estranged from the family for some time, Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Yediot Aḥaronot Jan 20, 2012

January 20th, 2012 | Category: Israel, Politics, Religion in Israel | Leave a comment

Bruce Springsteen’s latest.

January 20th, 2012 | Category: Bruce Springsteen, Pre-Shabbat Song | Leave a comment