cross-currents link
Just how inclusive is inclusive? Every one has their own red line, as Rabbi Shafran so eloquently demonstrates.
The Pew rePort was published some months ago, yet the findings and controversial methodologies in finding them have been questioned by many a Jblog. It seems that the Pew results continue to be discussed and dissected, yet the results are not really that shocking. Everyone knows that the Orthodox are becoming more Orthodox and the Reform are becoming more Reformed.
I don't really understand what all the fuss is about.
Dialogue I
Dialogue II
Dialogue III
Dialogue V
The latest issue of Dialogue is a Dandy! Just when I thought that Dialogue was in Demise, my copy arrived with over 300 pages jam-packed with hot issues of the Day, in addition to a real Dose of Dialogue regarding the Torah-science Dispute.
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Rabbi Aharon Feldman's Speech to Israeli Generals, explaining the Torah outlook of why Chareidim refuse to be drafted, is heartfelt and helps us understand why compromise is not an option. Rabbi Feldman's second article deals with Observant But Not Religious in what he deems to be the number one problem facing religious Jewry today.
Rabbi Eytan Kobre bemoans the superficiality of various religious practices, and pines for the olden days, when Yomim Tovim were appreciated more because one worked on building a Sukkah (not pre-fab like today) and one worked to make Pesach, not make reservations at some hotel. Gain through Pain: A proposal for Contemporary Orthodoxy. This article really reminds me of the kind of essays one used to read in the now defunct Jewish Observer.
Choosing Faith over Folly: The Mekubalim Phenomenon is penned by Rabbi Yaakov Hillel, one of today's real Kabbalists, as an effort to curtail the proliferation of fakes and frauds who prey on the vulnerable.
Rabbi J. David Bleich in The Challenge of Faith Commitment, notes that our external religiosity is much stronger than in earlier years, but we must also train out youth in the Internals - Emunah, Bitachon etc.
Rabbi Zev Cohen in The Vaad - An anchor in the Turbulent Sea calls for setting up Vaadim, as a way to keep the spirituality gained in Yeshiva after one has gone out to the working world.
Rabbi Aharon Lopiansky discusses the setting up of our Siddur in The Endless Dimensions of the Siddur.
In Kabbalah and Halacha, Rabbi Zev Kreines explores the dynamics of integrating various aspects of Kabbalah with Halacha.
Dr. Lee M. Spetner in The Limits of Evolution, opens up the science-Torah section with his scholarly article on the shortcomings of the theory of Common Descent, concluding that it is false.
Rabbi Natan Slifkin, in Letter to the Editor, responds to Dialogue volume 3 where Doctors Betech and Maya had argued that the biblical Shafan is the rabbit. Rabbi Slifkin argues that rabbits were not native to Israel, hence when Dovid HaMelech and Shlomo HaMelech refer to the Shafan, it must not be referring to the rabbit, making the hyrax the most likely candidate. As for the Torah referring to the Shafan as a Maaleh Gaira, he invokes Dibra Torah Kilshon Bnei Odom.
Rabbi Dovid Kornreich, in The Betech-Slifkin Shafan Debate - An Assesment argues that the Shafan needn't have been native to Israel, as the Divine is all-knowing, and furthermore, Dibra Torah Kilshon Bnei Odom is not appropos over here. Also, rabbits may have been imported to Israel, of which we see other examples of imported animals in Tenach.
Professor Dr. Jonathan Ostroff - Shafan Hyrax or Rabbit joins the fray and argues that Shafan could well be the rabbit, even though it doesn't chew the cud in the conventional sense, but he agrees that caecotrophy - the re-ingesting of food pellets could well work with the Torah's definition. He disagrees with Rabbi Slifkin regarding the fossil record and dislikes the hyrax option, as the hyrax is not Maaleh Gaira in any definition.
Rabbi Yechezkel Spanglet discusses computer/internet addiction in Addictions: Underlying Causes and Recovery Options.
Rabbi/Doctor Benzion Sorotzkin discusses Same Sex Attraction - Beyond the Rhetoric, reiterating the theme from last issue of Dialogue that it is political correctness which drives much of the homosexual lobby, not necessarily truth.
Rabbi Mayer Twersky further discusses some of the fallout from the previous issue in Judaism and Deviant Behavior.
Other letters include more responses to the homosexuality issue and Lo Sisgodedu.
Rebbitzen Esther Farbstein laments Yet Another Destruction: Jewish Books in Hungary.
Rav Yechiel Goldhaber completes the magazine with the second part of his hebrew article discussing Secular Marriage in Italy and France. פולמוס נישואין אזרחיים באיטליה וצרפת In this issue, unlike volume 3, the hebrew article pages correctly read right to left.
I am very impressed with this effort, as there are many hours of intellectual thought awaiting the reader. They have engaged in some real dialogue and for the first time have featured a woman. I wish them much Hatzlocho in future issues.
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Available in Seforim stores or call 410-367-2567
Disclaimer: I am not associated in any way with Dialogue.
“Chaim Deutsch did more than anybody else for the community, more than any elected official, more than anybody,” said Manhattan Beach Community Group president Ira Zalcman of Deutsch’s work after Hurricane Sandy. “I told him people were hungry, there was food, I told him people were cold, he was there with blankets, he was there with heaters. His ability to mobilize forces and get the things that people needed is amazing.”
We founded Beyond BT in December 2005, with the goal of helping second stage Baalei Teshuva, those who’ve already made a commitment to a Torah centered life. With the help of our contributors and commentors over the years, we’ve published over 1,800 posts and 29,000 comments on issues of integration and spiritual growth.
A recent video that is running rampant on the web seemingly pokes fun at the Chassidic Rebbe who is distributing apples to his followers.
While I was initially taken aback, I think that perhaps there is merit for such behavior.
I recall the famous story of the holocaust survivor who complained to his Rebbe that he can't pray to G-d anymore, since while in the Concentration Camps, there were Jews who charged others for use of a precious Siddur. Replied the Rebbe, why focus on the fellow who charged? Why not focus on all those Heilege Yiddin who were willing to give up their food rations to be able to pray!
By the same token, we can be Dan LeKaf Zechut in the above video. Let us focus on how some Chassidim try to cleave to their spiritual mentor. while in my opinion they may be overzealous, at least they are not fighting over the apples, just going overboard in trying to retrieve them. Lehavdil, many adults at baseball games are overzealous in trying to catch foul balls, and oftentimes resort to fist fights.
And unlike a baseball, an apple can be eaten.
For two and a half years they lived in a bunker with nothing but two sefarim, a Gemara Kesubos and a Mishnah Berurah chelek gimmel, and so, they were able to learn only hilchos Shabbos.
In the spring of 1946, Reb Yehoshua joined a group of illegal immigrants traveling to Eretz Yisrael. They were ordered to board the ship in Marseilles, France, on Shabbos, which distressed him to no end. On the other hand, it would have been dangerous to remain alone in a strange place with no money, food or belongings. He boarded the ship, but felt remorseful about it for many years, especially when he learned that the whole boarding on Shabbos was a setup by Shabbos desecrators who wanted the religious group to desecrate Shabbos.
As he boarded the ship that Shabbos, Reb Yehoshua pledged that when he would settle down, he would do something for Shabbos. This pledge was the seed that germinated into the sefer Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah.
"I vividly remember a commercial that used to play on radio many years ago, where a deep voice would ask a number of children: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The children would invariably answer: “I want to be a policeman just like daddy.” “I want to be a doctor just like daddy.” “I want to be a lawyer just like daddy.” And finally, “I want to be a fireman just like daddy.” And then the deep voice would resonate with one question addressed to all of us out there, listening to the commercial:
“Daddy, do you smoke?”
Brooklyn's Chassidic community has long Battled the Bloomberg administration regarding keeping their neighborhoods spiritually clean.
There were previous successes in removing Bike lanes that cut through this area, which were opposed for several reasons. Firstly, the Chassidim did not want collisions between speeding Bicyclists and the many children and pedestrians that inhabit this area Furthermore, they did not want the scantily clad Bicyclists destroying the spiritual aura that permeates this region.
The new CitiBike sharing program once again threatened to infiltrate this region, yet according to the NY Daily News, the Chassidim have seemingly Blocked this program from their Blocks.
In other bicycle news, Chai Lifeline's Bike4chai now enters it's fifth season. Bikers will travel 175 miles over 2 days to raise money for Camp Simcha. What began as a simple ride by one counselor 5 years ago, was followed by 39 participants the second year, and has now mushroomed to 300 participants. Last year 1.8 million dollars was raised! I wish I could swap my Blogger-seat for a Bicycle seat and join them.
In any event, what is somewhat mystifying is that well over one third, over 100 bicyclists hail from Brooklyn! I wonder how many of them live in the 'Burg?
