Weekly Digest – News and Essays In and Out of Orthodoxy – Week of Parshas Metzora 5776
71 Years Later, Dachau Victim’s Remains Are Brought to Rest in St. Louis
OU KOSHER PRE-PASSOVER WEBINAR 2016
Orthodox Union Rejects Sen. Sanders’ Statements about Israel
Bernie Sanders: A Jewish Candidate in Name Only
Fearing Trump, Republican Jews give Cruz another look
The Civil Illiberties Union Targets a Yeshiva
Orthodox rabbinical group in Israel calls for welcoming ‘people with homosexual orientations’ – It’s anyone’s guess as to what the Beit Hillel organization will come up with next. No one argues with the idea of working privately with homosexuals, but to welcome public homosexuality at shul, etc.??
Exclusive: Some Trump Vodka, popular as kosher for Passover spirit, may not be kosher
Rabbi Lila Kagedan: A history-making title in Orthodox Judaism
Driving the Wedge Further – Excellent commentary on the above story.
Torah.org – Please take a look at this superbly revised site. Absolutely splendid.
Reconstructionist Rebels Form Splinter Group After Schism Over Intermarried Rabbis
Parshas Metzora – Some Things Are Better Left Alone
Ted Cruz walks into an NY matzah bakery – Twitter supplies the punchline
Arguing with God – This article by a prominent Open Orthodox leader really bothered me, and is also highly inaccurate. Snippet (but please read the whole article):
“Thus the diminishing of the moon by God is symbolic of the imperfection inherent in creation. Our world is full of beauty, wonder and astonishing harmony. Yet it is also fatally flawed and astoundingly cruel. Natural disasters and human atrocities conspire to bring unspeakable suffering into the world.
“Death is the embodiment of all that is imperfect in God’s creation. Death is not abstractions for Aharon; his two eldest sons were just consumed by God’s fire. By refusing to partake in the sin offering of God, he is refusing to absolve God of criminal liability for death and suffering in the world.
“This point is more acute when we realize that this sin offering for this rosh chodesh is the first rosh chodesh. While later generations brought and consumed the sin offering of Rosh Chodesh, accepting God and the imperfect world He created, Aharon has registered his protest. God will have to bear His sin alone; Aharon will not atone for Him.”
Beyond the pale – I am honored that the Cross-Currents Weekly Digest was featured in this article against “heresy hunting”: “One rabbi has a weekly blog dedicated to shaming writers he considers non-Orthodox.” But in all seriousness, this article is an admission that the movements and ideologies which are portrayed as being “hunted” have in fact materially deviated from the normative path of Orthodoxy, as the writer (here and in his other blogposts) needs to redefine the parameters of emunah and Halacha in order to defend the movements and ideologies under discussion. The writer is apparently unaware — or, at least, is going to great lengths to appear unaware — that no one is interested in hunting anyone; the interest is in preserving the integrity of Orthodox Judaism and alerting those who are unaware of the issues.
Last week’s installment of Weekly Digest – News and Essays In and Out of Orthodoxy can be viewed here.
any way to get the ou webinar downloaded?
KT
(The webinar link now allows downloading of it. – AG)
Don’t see download function at the link above
KT
(My apologies. But please click it open, and it will play. -AG)
Re: The Civil Illiberties Union Targets a Yeshiva
Unfortunately, by not filing Form 990 (and getting the IRS to issue a letter that they are not required to do so), BMG undermined its case that it is a school and not a religious entity/church. Perhaps Mr. Schick was/is unaware that BMG has not filed a 990 since 2007, and therefore calls BMG a “School” instead of its legal status as a religious entity/church?
On the surface at least BMG appears to take contradictory approaches to what they are-by not filing a 990 they are stating that they are a church. I believe the grants the ACLU issuing about are those for educational institutions etc which can’t discriminate on the basis of religion-thus they apparently have included in their lawsuit other theological institutions. Church affiliated institutions that operate as normal schools/hospitals etc must treat all religions equally.
BMG is certainly doing something right. About 5% of its graduates become rabbis, and many become educators. But most of its alumni enter secular professions and do well there. They also regularly gain admission to Ivy League graduate schools. I guess the admissions officers at Harvard, Columbia and Penn know something that the ACLU doesn’t about a BMG education.
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Define regularly, perhaps as compared to the 5% figure or the percentages from other undergraduate institutions?
KT
“I guess the admissions officers at Harvard, Columbia and Penn know something that the ACLU doesn’t about a BMG education.”
Or maybe the admissions officers don’t know exactly what the curriculum is at BMG.
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“Define regularly, perhaps as compared to the 5% figure or the percentages from other undergraduate institutions?”
We need data-since BMG is apparently selective-it does not mean that BMG is adding anything of material value to the students intelligence. In general BMG students have an excellent verbal aptitude.
As a follow up to the link about the kvurah of a Dachau victim, I think that the following linked article warrants careful reading.http://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/2016/02/the-problem-with-jewish-museums/ One can argue that we live in an age where the particular cruelty of the Shoah/Churban Europa has been cheapened by universalizing it in a PC way so as to allow for a feeling of comparable suffering by every side in every tribal conflict-none of which approach the magnitude of Hitler’s intentions and near complete anhilation of European Jewry.
If you want to apologize to the members of Beit Hillel for speaking ill of them(“it is anyone’s guess…”) here is the list of leaders to start with:
Rav Moshe Aberman
Rabbanit Naomi Adler
Rav Yitzhak Ajzner
Rabbanit Ruth Alster
Rav Elisha Ancselovits
Rabbanit Racheli Avisar Label
Rav Avi Baumol
Rav Efraim Beck
Rav Adi Ben Shachar
Rav Yoni Berlin
Rabbanit Ariela Bigman
Rav David Bigman
Rabbanit Tamar Bitton
Rav Asi Blank
Rav Yitzhak Blau
Rabbanit Shoshana Boublil
Rav Tzuriel Boublil
Rav Shlomo Brin
Rav David Brofsky
Rabbanit Mali Brofsky
Rav Chaim Burgansky
Rav Moshe Cahn
Rav Adiel Cohen
Rabbanit Yardena Cope-Yosef
Rav Benny de la Fuente
Rabbanit Atara Eis
Rav Raffi Eis
Rav Meir Ekstein
Rabbanit Tehila Elitzur
Rav Yehoshua Engelman
Rabbanit Devora Evron
Rabbanit Carmit Feintuch
Rabbanit Miriam Feldmann Kaye
Rav Shmuel Feuchtwanger
Rabbanit Esther Fisher
Rabbanit Ilana Fodiman-Silverman
Rabbanit Sarah Friedland ben Arza
Rabbanit Chana Friedman
Rabbanit Tova Ganzel
Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barash
Rav Yehuda Gilad
Rav Zvi Grumet
Rabbanit Sharona Halickman
Rav Aviram Hariv
Rabbanit Hanna Hashkes
Rav Shlomo Hecht
Rav Nati Helfgot
Rav Aviad Hollander
Rav Seth (Avi) Kadish
Rav Ari Kahn
Rav Avi Kannai
Rav Ysoscher Katz
Rav Warren Kaye
Rabbanit Tirza Kelman
Rabbanit Rachel Keren
Rabbanit Yafit Klimer
Rav Shmuel Klitsner
Rabbanit Oshra Koren
Rav Zvi Koren
Rabbanit Batya Kraus
Rabbanit Ora Krausz
Rav Amit Klia
Rabbanit Noa Lau
Rav Binyamin Lehman
Rav Aaron Leibowitz
Rabbanit Rachel Levmore
Rabbanit Ayelet Libson
Rabbanit Rebecca Linzer
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Rav Ronen Lubitch
Rav Yaakov Mozer
Rabbanit Tamar Meir
Rav Michael Melchior
Rabbi Dr. David Mescheloff
Rabbanit Uria Mevorach
Rabbanit Vered Mezuman Aviad
Rabbanit Karen Miller Jackson
Rabbanit Michal Nagen
Rav Yaakov Meir Nagen
Rav Meir Nehorai
Rav Kalman Neuman
Rabbanit Pnina Neuwirth
Rav Ronen Neuwirth
Rabbanit Anat Novoselsky
Rav Ilai Ofran
Rav Yaakov Ohayon
Rav Shlomo Riskin
Rabbanit Avigail Rock
Rav Yehuda Rock
Rabbanit Esti Rosenberg
Rav Yoni Rosensweig
Rabbanit Tamar Roth
Rav Aviad Sanders
Rabbanit Na’ama Sat
Rav Mike Schlitz
Rav Morey Schwartz
Rabbanit Ayelet Segal
Rav Daniel Segal
Rav Yeroham Simsovic
Rav Hanan Schlesinger
Rachelle Sprecher Fraenkel
Rav Yair Silverman
Rav Yossef Slotnik
Rav Yossi Soffer
Rav Moshe Speter
Rav Gideon Sylvester
Rav Ohad Teharlev
Rabbanit Michal Tikochinsky
Rav Avraham Walfish
Rabbanit Ruth Walfish
Rav Avi Weiss
Rav Daniel Wolf
Rabbi Pesach Wolicki
Rav Dr. Jeffrey Woolf
Rav Yair Yaniv
Rav Alan Yuter
Rav Josh Yuter
Rav Mishael Zion
Not sure what your point is. I must assume that you somehow feel that since there are so many people on your list , therefore they must be right and Rabbi Gordimer wrong. Clearly you must realize the pointlessness of arguing numbers. The original avraham was a lone voice of truth in a world of sheker.
If you have an intelligent rebuttal please feel free to post it. But as is typical of all OO responses you skirt the issue.
While containing a few names associated to varying degrees with the US OO stream, this is just a SMALL example of what MO life in Israel includes. As I have noted repeatedly, while the right has infiltrated many MO institutions in the US, the future of MO is growing robustly in Israel. For those less familiar with the individuals on the list, it includes a number of Ramim at Gush, one of whom is IMHO without a doubt RAL ztl’s most distinguished talmid, the wife of a friend (not a Rabbi) who is identified as Rabbanit despite receiving semicha, (no one attacked her semicha as she, unlike ANY semicha student I know, can answer sheailot in all arba helkei SA), one of the few yadin, yadin graduate of Riets, etc. etc. I thank Dr. Stadlan for helping me make my by now too often repeated point about happenings in Israel. I doubted anyone MO would attack a group like this; perhaps I was not wrong. 🙂
i suggest you google the names and understand the number and greatness of the tamidei chacham represented in the list. That was the point.