I noticed that I'd been getting hits from a site called Chabad Filter.
Curiously, I'm on their List of Chabad Blogs. So are Gil, Harry, and DovBear. I'm surprised that Dovid's blog is not on the list. His blog is at least as Chabadi as mine.
That site is an interesting set-up. It looks like there must be some places where that's the only site up, and it's only possible to follow the links that they provide. I guess that means that I have a chassidishe gushpanke. Go figure.
NOTE: That's not really a picture of me in the corner. I have a trimmed beard.
5/17/2006
The Vaad HoRabbonim HaOlami LeInyanei Giyur Responds
Check out this article.
Comments on it are welcome below, since no such feature is available on the article’s homepage.
I’m curious if the Va’ad coming ‘under attack’ means this blog. AFAIK, barely anyone else mentioned them in context of this issue, and if they did, it was only to downplay their involvement in it.
It’s clear from this article that the desire is not to work with the RCA to improve its policies, but to completely shaft it. Draw your own conclusions from that.
Comments on it are welcome below, since no such feature is available on the article’s homepage.
I’m curious if the Va’ad coming ‘under attack’ means this blog. AFAIK, barely anyone else mentioned them in context of this issue, and if they did, it was only to downplay their involvement in it.
It’s clear from this article that the desire is not to work with the RCA to improve its policies, but to completely shaft it. Draw your own conclusions from that.
PusheRabbi?
We have some neighbors who are very involved Jewishly, go to an Orthodox when they go (usually just Friday nights), but don’t keep a kosher home. Not too long ago, they invited some kosher-keepers over for a the Friday-night meal, and they enlisted our help making sure that whatever they served would be Kosher. To that end, we lent them a pot to make chicken soup.
That Friday night, I was walking home from shul with my guests, and ran into my neighbor. We wished each other ‘Good Shabbos’ and then he added ‘Oh, and Rabbi, thanks again for the pot’. To make matters worse, these neighbors aren’t particularly prudish, to say the least, and the term ‘pot’ is more often used to refer to marijuana than to a kettle.
The looks on the faces of my guests were precious. Over dinner, we explained the scenario, but I couldn’t help but think that this is how some nasty rumors can get started.
That Friday night, I was walking home from shul with my guests, and ran into my neighbor. We wished each other ‘Good Shabbos’ and then he added ‘Oh, and Rabbi, thanks again for the pot’. To make matters worse, these neighbors aren’t particularly prudish, to say the least, and the term ‘pot’ is more often used to refer to marijuana than to a kettle.
The looks on the faces of my guests were precious. Over dinner, we explained the scenario, but I couldn’t help but think that this is how some nasty rumors can get started.
5/15/2006
A Triumphant Return: R' Shimon bar Yochai Part XV
This series began on Lag B'Omer one year ago. This is the concluding installment.
[Continued from Intro, I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX , X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV]
Finally, R’ Shimon enters the marketplace. His voice has become one of the many which have currency in the public sphere. In doing so, R’ Shimon has come full circle, finding a way to thrive amongst the cacophony of messages, products, and ideas that the Roman marketplace contains. This is his ultimate victory over Yehuda ben Gerim, the rootless but proud contemporary Jew whose perception had initially doomed R’ Shimon to irrelevance. R’ Shimon’s re-entry into the world exposes the truth behind the religious world of Yehuda ben Gerim: absent rootedness, Jewish in form but devoid of the inner culture and meaning , is the skeleton of Jewish life that remains inanimate. Rootless, Judaism becomes desiccated and eventually collapses. Rooted in its own past, Judaism remains relevant and vigorous, its voice still reverberating in the marketplaces of the world.
[Continued from Intro, I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX , X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV]
Then he went out into the market and saw Judah, the son of proselytes: 'That man is still in the world!' he exclaimed. He cast his eyes upon him and he became a heap of bones.
Finally, R’ Shimon enters the marketplace. His voice has become one of the many which have currency in the public sphere. In doing so, R’ Shimon has come full circle, finding a way to thrive amongst the cacophony of messages, products, and ideas that the Roman marketplace contains. This is his ultimate victory over Yehuda ben Gerim, the rootless but proud contemporary Jew whose perception had initially doomed R’ Shimon to irrelevance. R’ Shimon’s re-entry into the world exposes the truth behind the religious world of Yehuda ben Gerim: absent rootedness, Jewish in form but devoid of the inner culture and meaning , is the skeleton of Jewish life that remains inanimate. Rootless, Judaism becomes desiccated and eventually collapses. Rooted in its own past, Judaism remains relevant and vigorous, its voice still reverberating in the marketplaces of the world.
תם ונשלם. תודה לא-ל דסעיין.
ל"ג בעומר, יום שמ(ח)ת רשב"י, התשס"ו
ל"ג בעומר, יום שמ(ח)ת רשב"י, התשס"ו
Rabbis and Whores: R' Shimon b. Yochai Part XIV
[Continued from Intro, I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX , X, XI, XII, XIII]
Contrast this ‘old man’ with the ‘old man running’ that R’ Shimon encountered earlier. Whereas the first old man moves vigorously forward, ancient yet ever fresh, this old man suffers from religious paralysis, and is an impediment to progress.
R’ Shimon responds by once again imposing his vision, and once again destroying. However, whereas the first time he does so, he is sent back to the cave, he isn’t this time. This reinforces the sense that R’ Shimon re-enters the world with his passion and idealism intact. Engaging the world need not result in the dulling of religious fervor, though withdrawal might be a prerequisite for successful engagement.
R’ Shimon understands that the momentum required to ‘purify a graveyard’ mandates a degree of mutual respect amongst the Rabbis. Once one stands up to be counted in that group, a degree of professional respect must be observed. Otherwise, the prestige of the group suffers as a whole. Thus, R’ Shimon criticizes the old man and sees him for what he really is – dead. Let the old man remain in the cemetery of which he’s so fond!
Said the old man: The son of Yohai has purified a cemetery! Said he, “Had you not been with us, even if you have been with us but did not vote, you might have said well. But now that you were with us and voted with us, It will be said, ‘[Even] whores make each other up; how much more so scholars!’” He cast his eye upon him, and he died.The old man, who had just testified to what he saw in his youth, now turns on R’ Shimon; he didn’t trust himself, was afraid to take a potentially unpopular stand. He succumbs to the temptation of the status quo. From his perspective, R’ Shimon has indeed purified a cemetery, because all is a cemetery.
Contrast this ‘old man’ with the ‘old man running’ that R’ Shimon encountered earlier. Whereas the first old man moves vigorously forward, ancient yet ever fresh, this old man suffers from religious paralysis, and is an impediment to progress.
R’ Shimon responds by once again imposing his vision, and once again destroying. However, whereas the first time he does so, he is sent back to the cave, he isn’t this time. This reinforces the sense that R’ Shimon re-enters the world with his passion and idealism intact. Engaging the world need not result in the dulling of religious fervor, though withdrawal might be a prerequisite for successful engagement.
R’ Shimon understands that the momentum required to ‘purify a graveyard’ mandates a degree of mutual respect amongst the Rabbis. Once one stands up to be counted in that group, a degree of professional respect must be observed. Otherwise, the prestige of the group suffers as a whole. Thus, R’ Shimon criticizes the old man and sees him for what he really is – dead. Let the old man remain in the cemetery of which he’s so fond!
Purifying a Graveyard: R’ Shimon b. Yochai Part XIII
[Continued from Intro, I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX , X, XI, XII]
An unmarked graveyard is the worst kind of obstacle: it is a safeik, a case of doubt. Treating is all as ‘dead’, as the people were doing, means that one cannot navigate a ‘path’ – a halakha – a way through – this past, and will be forced to construct their path through foreign pastures. Ironically, the more the entire past is treated as sacred, the less viable and relevant it is in the present. Equally dangerous is ignorance of the past, to trample it, to relegate it to a bygone world that cannot provide any meaning for the ‘modern’ generation. Nothing is sacred.
In order for the Kohanim – the group that stands between man and God, be it the Sons of Aharon or the entire Jewish people as a ‘Kingdom of Priests’ – to accomplish their mission, a path must be forged through the whole of what has been transmitted. Doubt must be resolved. Right and wrong, living and dead, essential and accidental, must be differentiated.
R’ Shimon is in position to do just that. He began the story wholly rooted in the past, but then spend years refining and unlocking the underlying, essential, eternal, pure Torah, which he is now ready to apply to the current untenable situation. There are a number of tools at his disposal, which he utilizes to indeed chart a course through the cemetery, signaling what has died and what lives on.
He first turns to memory; is the past wholly shrouded in fog, completely inaccessible, or do we have a tendency to treat it that way? R’ Shimon consults the remnants of the previous generation, those who still remember what it was like, to help him recover the living system. He finds a link back to the generation of R’ Yohanan b. Zakkai. R’ Yohanan was the last leader in the time of destruction, who had to begin a rebuilding and recovery process. He is the immediate predecessor and role model for the task that R’ Shimon now faces.
R’ Yohanan ‘cut down lupines’ in this cemetery, and so R’ Shimon does so, too. The lupine is an interesting vegetable. Raw, it is inedible and bitter. It must be cooked several times, each time removing the outermost layer, until finally the sweet kernel is reached.
Is that not exactly what R’ Shimon is attempting?
“Is there anything that requires fixing?” he asked. They told him that there’s a place of doubtful contamination (tumah), and Kohanim (priests, who may not traverse a cemetery) must trouble themselves to circumvent it. Said he: Does any man know that there was a presumption of cleanness here? A certain old man replied, Here [R. Yohanan] b. Zakkai cut down lupines of terumah. So he did likewise. Wherever it (the ground) was hard he declared it clean; wherever it was loose, he marked it off.Generations that experienced a severe rupture with the past exhibit tendencies to preserve whatever possible of that past. No attempt is made to distinguish between essential and accidental elements of the bygone era. Thus, the entire past remains an undifferentiated amalgam of the ‘living’ and the ‘dead’. It becomes an unmarked graveyard.
An unmarked graveyard is the worst kind of obstacle: it is a safeik, a case of doubt. Treating is all as ‘dead’, as the people were doing, means that one cannot navigate a ‘path’ – a halakha – a way through – this past, and will be forced to construct their path through foreign pastures. Ironically, the more the entire past is treated as sacred, the less viable and relevant it is in the present. Equally dangerous is ignorance of the past, to trample it, to relegate it to a bygone world that cannot provide any meaning for the ‘modern’ generation. Nothing is sacred.
In order for the Kohanim – the group that stands between man and God, be it the Sons of Aharon or the entire Jewish people as a ‘Kingdom of Priests’ – to accomplish their mission, a path must be forged through the whole of what has been transmitted. Doubt must be resolved. Right and wrong, living and dead, essential and accidental, must be differentiated.
R’ Shimon is in position to do just that. He began the story wholly rooted in the past, but then spend years refining and unlocking the underlying, essential, eternal, pure Torah, which he is now ready to apply to the current untenable situation. There are a number of tools at his disposal, which he utilizes to indeed chart a course through the cemetery, signaling what has died and what lives on.
He first turns to memory; is the past wholly shrouded in fog, completely inaccessible, or do we have a tendency to treat it that way? R’ Shimon consults the remnants of the previous generation, those who still remember what it was like, to help him recover the living system. He finds a link back to the generation of R’ Yohanan b. Zakkai. R’ Yohanan was the last leader in the time of destruction, who had to begin a rebuilding and recovery process. He is the immediate predecessor and role model for the task that R’ Shimon now faces.
R’ Yohanan ‘cut down lupines’ in this cemetery, and so R’ Shimon does so, too. The lupine is an interesting vegetable. Raw, it is inedible and bitter. It must be cooked several times, each time removing the outermost layer, until finally the sweet kernel is reached.
Is that not exactly what R’ Shimon is attempting?
5/14/2006
How Will the Conversion Issue Shake Out?
In the punchline of the more recent of the Jewish Week articles on the subject, R’ Basil Herring was quoted as saying:
Regarding the second claim (which is the easier of the two to demonstrate as false), there is a definite ‘haredization’ of the Rabbanut on conversion issues. In the same Jewish week article, it is reported that:
That R’ Krispel takes his cues from others is corroborated by his testimony at a Knesset hearing involving the conversion of the Indian Bene Menashe. This 25-page Hebrew report can provide some incredible insight into the how the Rabbanut perceives the conversion process and its relationship with batei din all over the world.
I’m not suggesting that R’ Nochum is behind everything, or that the Rabbanut is being controlled. R’ Nochum is a grogger; he makes noise wherever he sees or hears (what he believes to be) Amalek. But he’s been making noise about the RCA and many, many other organizations that engage in giyur. He would disband the RCA tomorrow if he could, and because he thinks that it’s not really Orthodox. And he has found an audience in a Chief Rabbi who is trying to generate universal conversion standards and a bureaucrat, R’ Krispel, who must rely on others for his information about the American Rabbinate. Thus, to the degree that RNE influences decisions about which American Rabbis are acceptable, the Rabbanut is being ‘hareidized’.
This leads to the other issue – is this an attack on American Orthodoxy or Modern Orthodoxy? From the perspective of the Rabbanut, certainly not. But there is a mistrust of the American Orthodox Rabbinate as a whole, and an attempt to impose a standard upon it. It is not insignificant that the RCA was not a major player in a conference whose mission was to bring the standardized conversion agenda to American soil. If the EJF begins to compile its own network of Rabbis, and the Rabbanut accepts their conversions implicitly, then the RCA will have been completely undermined.
Personally, I believe that the RCA doesn’t, and shouldn’t, have universal standards because of the diversity of Orthodox communities in America. The sincerity and commitment of each potential ger must be evaluated in context, and by a beis din who is familiar with the community that the ger wishes to join. Neither RNE nor R’Amar want to leave subjective decisions in the hands of community Rabbis: RNE because he thinks that, as a class, they’re not really Orthodox, and R’ Amar because there’s no objective standard.
So is it a Catch-22 – the RCA either adopts a standard or gets shafted? I hope that it’s not too late and that there’s a third way. Here are what I think would be some of its key points:
“it is not an attack on Modern Orthodoxy or American Orthodoxy, and it does not represent the haredization of the rabbinate”These are 2 separate claims. I would like to address each claim independently, and then to offer some alternatives to how this thing can shake out.
Regarding the second claim (which is the easier of the two to demonstrate as false), there is a definite ‘haredization’ of the Rabbanut on conversion issues. In the same Jewish week article, it is reported that:
Rabbi Krispel said he had recently established a committee of three rabbis to determine the qualifications of any rabbi performing conversions.As Stephen commented, “the identity of those three Rabbis is pretty important. Well, Rav Nochum Eisenstein is one of the three members. I don’t know the identity of the other two. Furthermore, it was overheard at the EJF conference that R’ Ryback, Chairman of the RCA’s Geirus Commision and a signatory on this letter , was trying to convince R’ Nochum to accept RCA-approved conversions.
That R’ Krispel takes his cues from others is corroborated by his testimony at a Knesset hearing involving the conversion of the Indian Bene Menashe. This 25-page Hebrew report can provide some incredible insight into the how the Rabbanut perceives the conversion process and its relationship with batei din all over the world.
I’m not suggesting that R’ Nochum is behind everything, or that the Rabbanut is being controlled. R’ Nochum is a grogger; he makes noise wherever he sees or hears (what he believes to be) Amalek. But he’s been making noise about the RCA and many, many other organizations that engage in giyur. He would disband the RCA tomorrow if he could, and because he thinks that it’s not really Orthodox. And he has found an audience in a Chief Rabbi who is trying to generate universal conversion standards and a bureaucrat, R’ Krispel, who must rely on others for his information about the American Rabbinate. Thus, to the degree that RNE influences decisions about which American Rabbis are acceptable, the Rabbanut is being ‘hareidized’.
This leads to the other issue – is this an attack on American Orthodoxy or Modern Orthodoxy? From the perspective of the Rabbanut, certainly not. But there is a mistrust of the American Orthodox Rabbinate as a whole, and an attempt to impose a standard upon it. It is not insignificant that the RCA was not a major player in a conference whose mission was to bring the standardized conversion agenda to American soil. If the EJF begins to compile its own network of Rabbis, and the Rabbanut accepts their conversions implicitly, then the RCA will have been completely undermined.
Personally, I believe that the RCA doesn’t, and shouldn’t, have universal standards because of the diversity of Orthodox communities in America. The sincerity and commitment of each potential ger must be evaluated in context, and by a beis din who is familiar with the community that the ger wishes to join. Neither RNE nor R’Amar want to leave subjective decisions in the hands of community Rabbis: RNE because he thinks that, as a class, they’re not really Orthodox, and R’ Amar because there’s no objective standard.
So is it a Catch-22 – the RCA either adopts a standard or gets shafted? I hope that it’s not too late and that there’s a third way. Here are what I think would be some of its key points:
- A thorough house-cleaning, in which RCA members about whom corruption reports surfaced would be investigated and, if need be, ‘defrocked’ from serving as an Av Bet Din for conversion. However, members in good standing MUST be implicitly trusted.
- The adoption of a curriculum for Hilkhot Gerim for Rabbis-in-training.
- Perhaps most importantly, there needs to be a serious effort to produce halakhic literature which articulates our view of giyur and why we are confident in it and in our ability to engage in the sacred work of bringing people tachat kanfei Ha-Shekhinah.
Welcome (and Attention) RCA Rabbis
Apparently, I’m on Gil’s list of ‘Blogs that Rabbis Should Follow’, in his ‘Torah category’. Admittedly, there’s a lot of sichas chullin here as well, but my purpose in writing this blog is, and will remain, the opportunity to formulate my own Torah thoughts to an audience that I wouldn’t normally have access to (though a large and ever-increasing number of my balabatim do read this blog). I’ve taught more Torah through the last year-plus of blogging than in my entire career in education and Rabbinics. I only request that if you use material for a shiur or drasha (you wouldn’t be the first), that you are meivi davar be-shem omro.
As you may be aware, this blog has played a role in the coverage of the issue involving RCA conversions. This blog was the first to connect the issue to the Eternal Jewish Family conference, to Rav Nochum Eisenstein’s Vaad HoRabbonim HaOlami LeInyonei Giyur, and to refute the Jewish Week’s theory that it’s somehow connected to the R’ Tendler issue. I hope to post once more on the issue; my original post was misunderstood, which, of course, is my own fault. Consequently, there have been statements written and spoken by RCA administrators attempting to downplay the significance of this issue. I will write about why I think that this really IS an issue that should be of major concern to American Orthodox Rabbis, and why the RCA either believes or wants us to believe that there isn’t.
And then I hope to get back to posting Torah.
As you may be aware, this blog has played a role in the coverage of the issue involving RCA conversions. This blog was the first to connect the issue to the Eternal Jewish Family conference, to Rav Nochum Eisenstein’s Vaad HoRabbonim HaOlami LeInyonei Giyur, and to refute the Jewish Week’s theory that it’s somehow connected to the R’ Tendler issue. I hope to post once more on the issue; my original post was misunderstood, which, of course, is my own fault. Consequently, there have been statements written and spoken by RCA administrators attempting to downplay the significance of this issue. I will write about why I think that this really IS an issue that should be of major concern to American Orthodox Rabbis, and why the RCA either believes or wants us to believe that there isn’t.
And then I hope to get back to posting Torah.
5/11/2006
Getting Back on Track
Hopefully, I’m done w/ this RCA business for a while (wishful thinking?). I’ve now only got 5 days left till Lag Ba-Omer, and still three installments of the R’ Shimon b. Yochai series. I’m definitely looking forward to posting Torah again; back to the meat n’ pataytas.
Of course, it’s never the Torah posts which generate comments, though it’s what I’m most proud of, and it’s generally better stuff and more thought out than the sichas chullin that I write. I wonder why that is. The Rebbetzin theorizes that folks are looking for something they can connect with – a story about the travails of raising a Jewish child, my memories of my grandfather – more than abstract Torah ideas. Maybe she’s right, but it’s the hock – current events and controversial or contrarian machshavah that y’all eat up. The anecdotes are second. Ve-Torah munachas be-keren zavis.
BTW, I’ve switched from Bloglet, which wasn’t working, to FeedBlitz subscriptions, so heads up to subscribers, and thanks, Dan.
I’m still making aliyah this summer (though I feel like I may have stepped into chet ha-meraglim territory these past few days) and I still don’t have a job. However, this Rabbanut business gave me a great idea. I’d perform non-Rabbanut-sanctioned weddings in Israel for ehrlikhe yidden whom the Rabbanut won’t recognize as such, and then help the couple arrange for a Cypriot civil marriage. I’d happily take a job with the RCA or ITIM, too. So, if you’re reading, it’s adderabbi@NOgmail.SPAMcom (ignore the ‘No spam’).
Of course, it’s never the Torah posts which generate comments, though it’s what I’m most proud of, and it’s generally better stuff and more thought out than the sichas chullin that I write. I wonder why that is. The Rebbetzin theorizes that folks are looking for something they can connect with – a story about the travails of raising a Jewish child, my memories of my grandfather – more than abstract Torah ideas. Maybe she’s right, but it’s the hock – current events and controversial or contrarian machshavah that y’all eat up. The anecdotes are second. Ve-Torah munachas be-keren zavis.
BTW, I’ve switched from Bloglet, which wasn’t working, to FeedBlitz subscriptions, so heads up to subscribers, and thanks, Dan.
I’m still making aliyah this summer (though I feel like I may have stepped into chet ha-meraglim territory these past few days) and I still don’t have a job. However, this Rabbanut business gave me a great idea. I’d perform non-Rabbanut-sanctioned weddings in Israel for ehrlikhe yidden whom the Rabbanut won’t recognize as such, and then help the couple arrange for a Cypriot civil marriage. I’d happily take a job with the RCA or ITIM, too. So, if you’re reading, it’s adderabbi@NOgmail.SPAMcom (ignore the ‘No spam’).
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