Maharat Becomes Rabbah

So the intertubes are aflame with the shocking, shocking, news that Avi Weiss's female ordinee, Maharat Sara Hurwitz, will now be called "Rabbah" (the female of Rabbi, and not "Fat Person"). See this JTA Story and the official pronouncement from their blog.

My reaction? In brief:


NB: The sound/film clip of Iago from Aladdin was made by me - but feel free to spread the code around the tubes...

Jewish Demography Joke

I'm taking a class in the methodology of quantitative sociology with a specific focus on the American Jewish commnuity. Today's class was about the "Jewish family" and family size, pregnancies, etc. This reminded me of one of my favorite modern Orthodox Jewish humor pieces, from the mischievous clowns of Bang-It-Out:

Teenage Pregnancies on Rise in the Frum Community

Rabbi Emanuel Rackman a'h

Rabbi Rackman passed away today. Here's part of the message I received from my former shul in NY: "[We regret] to inform you of the passing of Rabbi Dr. Emanuel Rackman, a leader of Modern Orthodoxy, president of Bar-Ilan University in Israel, rabbi of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue, and a man who held many other important posts during his long and storied life. Funeral services 12:00 noon on Tuesday, December 2nd, at Fifth Avenue Synagogue, 5 East 62nd Street (just off Fifth Avenue). The family will be receiving condolences there beginning at 11:00 a.m. The interment will be in Israel, where the first two days of shiva will be observed. The mourners will return to New York on Friday, December 5th, and observe shiva through Tuesday morning..."

I'd link to the Wiki page about him but, sadly enough, there hasn't been one made (and I'd make it, but with two 3 hour seminars to prepare for, there's no time. Maybe manana). His bio from this article from the YU newspaper shows how impressive a leader he was: (http://tinyurl.com/5fdo77):

Rabbi Emanuel Rackman, RIETS '34, earned his law degree and PhD in political science from Columbia University and was the spiritual leader of Congregation Shaaray Tefila of Far Rockaway and of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue. In 1947 he began teaching political philosophy and jurisprudence at Yeshiva College and in 1970 was named a university professor of political science. Rabbi Rackman received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Yeshiva in 1961, and was provost of Yeshiva University from 1970-1976. Rabbi Rackman has served as the president of the New York Board of Rabbis, president of the Rabbinical Council of America. A former colonel in the United States Air Force Reserve, during World War II he was chairman of the commission on Jewish chaplaincy in the United States Armed Forces. After leaving Yeshiva, Rabbi Rackman became president (1977-1985) and Chancellor (since 1985) of Bar Ilan University

I met Rabbi Rackman many times when I was working at KJ (see below) and he was one of the best pulpit rabbis around, a great pastoral leader. He taught me many lessons of how to take care of congregants that I could only aspire to (e.g. after shul on Shabbat he would go to the houses of the home-bound in order to make kiddush for each and every one). He is probably best known to many of you for his work in recent years in the struggle to free agunas.

His passing is a great loss.

Emmanuel: Modern Orthodoxy Confirmed

My friend and colleague, Rabbi Asher Lopatin, is Rahm Emmanuel's rabbi. In the three cases I know about of halakhically observant, powerful Jews, I confirmed their status by whether they asked shylas. I know about Lieberman (who asked Rabbi Barry Freundel), and Robert Wexler (a member of my parents' shul) and now I have confirmation that Emmanuel asks shylas as well:

On Rosh Hashana, Rahm Emanuel called his rabbi with a question: Could he violate the holiday to sit in on a conference call about the $700 billion bank bailout package that congressional Democrats were fiercely trying to revive?

It didn't take long for Rabbi Asher Lopatin, who heads Emanuel's modern Orthodox congregation in suburban Chicago, to give him an answer.

"I told him it was my halachic opinion that the financial system was on the point of failing and it could be a disaster, and this was a matter of life and death, to get this passed, as long as the violation was kept to a minimum," Lopatin told The Jerusalem Post.

Read the whole article, though, especially if you're still wavering about Obama's concern for Jews and Israel.

Update: Emmanuel's Talent:
Noam Schreiber of TNR says that Rahm is a superlative choice, and gives examples of his pragmatism.

Note, if Rahm does a good job, then *he* may get the coveted cement-shoe prize of being named the most probable "First Jewish President" (previous prizeholders were Joe Lieberman and Elliot Spitzer, wonderful company to join)

One more thought about Yigal Amir

A recent blog entry by one of my favorite reads (The Reality-Based Community) brings up the issue of Yigal Amir and conjugal visits.

As I wrote about below, I find the entire concept that the Chief Rabbinate would allow this shkutz Mechalel Hashem to marry is unconscionable. Then, over the weekend, I read Rabbi Student's Hirhurim article that says the "Gadol Hador" has claimed that a conversion done by a rabbi who believes the world is more than 5768 years old is invalid.

Combine this naarashkeit with the concerted program of the Chief Rabbinate to up-end and devalue the American Orthodox Rabbinate - to ruin our conversions, to challenge our identity as Torah-True Jews, and then add onto it the Chief Rabbinate's denigration of their predecessors' Heter Mechira... and then realize that these are the same people that allowed a marriage for Yigal Amir.

I say that Yigal Amir should be in cherem. Instead, the Chief Rabbinate says he's fine to marry but people from my conversions can't.

2009 Update: A video of the interrogation of Amir. The video and the pic from here.

Women Drivers

I just hear the awesome 1960 routine by Bob Newhart about being a driving instructor. It's funny, yet it's based on the conceit that 'women drivers' are dangerous.

This is a good example of how humor is a good tool for anthropology and culture study. Because back in 1950s, it was an accepted stereotype that not only couldn't women drive, but it was implied that it was something to do with the female constitution. That they were flightly, unserious, and too emotional to ever handle the responsibility of driving.

Yet who would think that now? It's like how women can't study Talmud...

2009 Update: A Demotivator based on the routine:

Circumcision Letter to Sullivan

[Background: Andrew Sullivan thinks circumcision is just awful. He calls it MGM - Male Genital Mutilation. I don't know if there's a broader connection between his antipathy and his being a gay European - America circumcises all male babies as a matter of course and gay men probably venerate that organ more than others do. Whatever the reasoning, I don't like his position and wrote him this letter, to which he has not responded, neither to me personally or on his blog. Score another against him.]

Dear Andrew,

I've been reading your blog steadily for a few years now (and even subscribed to the print Atlantic because I was impressed that a magazine would the guts to have both you and Yglesias as bloggers) and I enjoy reading your perspective, especially because I do not agree with much of it.

It's in this context that I wish to comment about your on-and-off again criticism of circumcision. I am an Orthodox Rabbi and whenever I read a particularly intense post of yours attacking circumcision, I get a chill of fear. In Jewish history and tradition, to attack circumcision is to attack the heart of Judaism. It is the symbol of the Jewish male because it is the symbol of the covenant of Abraham.

(These articles, one from the Jewish Encyclopedia and another from the Christian Easton's Bible Dictionary give a good overview).

Naturally, I'm not positing that it's off-limits to criticize Judaism; Jewish law very well may be antagonistic to many of the things you hold dear. The fear I feel is from the historical linkage between those who attack Jewish practice and anti-Jewish violence. Some of the anti-Jewish edicts have been or are against kosher slaughter (cf. the Nazis) but traditional Jewish education emphasizes that our enemies have taken a special target
against circumcision.

For example, the holiday of Hanukkah (your mate Chris Hitchens' favorite, or so I'm told), is based on the rebellion against an evil government that prohibited circumcision:

From the Jewish Encyclopedia about "Antiochus":

"[Antiochus'] royal decree proclaimed the abolition of the Jewish mode of worship; Sabbaths and festivals were not to be observed; circumcision was not to be performed; the sacred books were to be surrendered and the Jews were compelled to offer sacrifices to the idols that had been erected. The officers charged with carrying out these commands did so with great rigor; a veritable inquisition was established with monthly sessions for investigation. The possession of a sacred book or the performance of the rite of circumcision was punished with death. "

The Hadrianic persecutions, of those fun-loving crucifixion happy Romans,
also forbade circumcision:

'Circumcision is one of the commandments which, having been accepted with joy, are ever obeyed with joy, and, because the people gave their lives for them, are observed with steadfast loyalty" (R. Simeon b. Eleazar, in [the Talmud]). This refers to the martyrdom which the Jewish people underwent during the Hadrianic persecution, which was especially directed against circumcision."

A modern enemy of circumcision was the Soviet Union
(see this page from an organization trying to reverse that history) - as part of their assault on religion, I would suppose.

Circumcision is thus both part of Jewish identity, a symbol of our commitment to God and a litmus test for a government's tolerance of freedom of religion and of Judaism.

Note, I don't think criticism of circumcision is invalid. Jewish law dictates that the life of the child comes before circumcision. For an example from my rabbinate: a congregant's child, born three weeks ago, has a medical condition and can't undergo circumcision until the doctors say the procedure will be risk free - which may be never. The circumcisions you are decrying are, for the most part, against Jewish law. As such, I agree with you that circumcision, were it to be done in a way that risks a boy's life, is evil.

Yet when you get into the deeper ideologies against circumcision you need to know about which alarm bells you are inadvertently ringing. For me, I hear the alarm bells of the Greek persecution, the Roman slaughter, and the Soviet Union.

And just as being anti-Zionist does not make someone anti-Semitic; the anti-Zionists who are *not* anti-Semitic need to know that they share odious company. So too with those who oppose circumcision: there may be good reasons to do so but you need to work hard to make sure you're not lumped in with the wicked historical bedfellows.

Thank you for all the work you do on your blog
All the best,
The Styx

P.S. Two professional mohelim (circumcision rabbis) who may be effective in answering questions you have about how a proper, healthy, circumcision is done are Rabbi Phil Sherman and Rabbi Pinchas Katzenstein

Sept 7 Postscript: The boy mentioned in my letter will, BE"H, have his bris this Sunday.

2009 Update, picture is a sculpture of Hadrian killing a Jew, according to here. Backpost finished 9/7/07.

Who Wants to be an Israeli?

Around Yom Ha-Atzmaut, the Israeli papers print their lists of statistics. And it great to see that Israel's population grew by 1.8 percent, reaching 7,150,000. The increase came from births (148,000) and an increase in immigration (yahoo): "18,400 new immigrants."

Also food for thought (fear) is the ratio of Non-Arab/Arab = 80/20.

And grist for a trivia question: Which are the five largest cities in Israel:

The country's five largest cities, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Rishon Lezion and Ashdod, account for a quarter of the population, or 1,810,300 people. Another 462,200, or 6%, live in small towns, while just 119,700 - less than 2% - live on kibbutzim.

Would not have guessed Rishon L'Tzion. Then again, in the past few trips to Israel I hardly stepped foot outside J'slem.

But the best part of the article was the survey of who would have preferred to have been born in Israel:

Approximately 47% of the population would, if born again, prefer for that to happen somewhere other than Israel, according to an "alternative survey" conducted by the Geocartographic Institute's iGeo subsidiary.

The survey, conducted in early April among 500 Israeli Jews, found that 70% of Israelis from the FSU would prefer to be reborn outside Israel, 19% of them specifying Russia as their country of choice and 15% the US.

Among wealthy local-born Israelis, 62% said they would like to be reborn abroad, 18% in the US or Canada, 8% in Switzerland and 6% in Sweden.

A few thoughts:

1. 70% of Russian olim seem to hate living in Israel. Ingrates. Yet only half of those ingrates prefer Russia and the US. Suggesting that 36% either just hate Israel so much they can't think straight or would prefer to have been born in some undefined fanatasyland.
   
2. The two subgroups quoted have either 70% or 62% preferring to have been born outside of Israel, yet the total number surveyed was 47%. What's bringing the number down?

This:

In contrast, 83% of the modern Orthodox sector, 80% of those living in rural towns and kibbutzim, and 65% of Israel's well off pensioners said they would choose to be reborn in Israel.

83% of Modern Orthodox!

We're the backbone of Zionism, baby, and don't you forget it. When I read this statistics off in shul I quipped that the other 17% wanted to be born outside of Israel just so they could get the mitzvah of voluntary aliyah. Kol ha-kavod to the home team, eh.

Backpost finished 8/9/07. All I had was the link

UNC Beats Duke on Purim

That's my Modern Orthodox definition of a religious experience.

[Historical note: my father is a graduate of UNC so this is personal not just eschatological]

Tefilat HaDerech

On YouTube and IDF Tank Crew, about to go Lebanon, says Tefilat HaDerech.

Amen.

2009 Update: Embedded video -

AwarenessCenter.org

For my first few years in RIETS, I maintained a white hot rage about the corruption and mediocrity of the institution that I found in this parent institution that reflected, in a milder way, the neglect and aimlessness of American Modern Orthodoxy. One aspect of my rage was the way rabbis were allowed to act wretchedly while protected by their meaningless veil of Torah knowledge. Some simp with a Baba Batra under his arm could get away with cruelty, indifference, and idiocy all because they were considered 'a good ol' boy' of the beit Midrash.

My second year in RIETS had a difficult beginning. The combined malice of three particular rabbis -- one craven, one doltish, one evil -- made my learning situation almost untenable. I did not have a chavruta, nor my standard makom in the Beit Midrash, and I managed to find a seat in the Rosh Yeshiva section of the Beis. I sat next to Rav Ahron Soloveitchik zt'l (it was my great honor that he frequently borrowed the volumes from my mini-Shas) and I sat across from Rav Yosef Blau yavil l'chaim tovim.

So, for 2 hours minimum every day, Rav Blau and I had a shmooze chavruta. One topic that came out was the horrifying state of untracked rabbinic sex offenders. It was in his conversations that I learned about Mordechai Gafni, a.k.a. Marc Winiarz. I had just met Winiarz at the General Assembly in 1997 and my Freak-dar went off the charts. (Some people claim they have a "gay-dar", which allows them to identify homosexuals; whatever; some claim a "jew-dar"; I have the ability to recognize freaks, liars, and evil).

I also learned about Rabbi Ze'ev Kopolevitch. Rosh Yeshiva of Netiv Meir. And I was given hints about the case of Baruch Lanner.

A side point about Lanner; I've been after this sickbag for years, ever since I first met him in 1989. This is why I've been so outspoken about him (see my article "Prisons of Thought" in the Fall 2000 JOFA Journal

At that point, as a result of the conversations, and my YU fueled rage, I wanted to create Intershul. Intershul is to be an Interpol of jewish communities and organizations, a way for all of us to keep track of abusive husbands, criminal rabbis, and other community undesirables.

As I am still a pupa in the community structure, I have not been able to do much with the organization. However, a website I've stumbled over is doing some of the work already. Bravo.

The organization, AwarenessCenter.org, is fighting the good fight. They have resources for professionals and victims. They also have a rogues gallery of bad rabbis.

Some special cases in there. There have been accusations against Rav Shlomo Aviner which I find difficult to believe, but it needs to be investigated with full due process. The Shlomo Carlebach case is in there too. My favorite, though, is the current Chief Rabbi of Israel was elected despite the known accusations against him. Tisha B'av, here we come.

Whoa

Just stumbled on this website and I'm impressed with its breadth of knowledge: Encyclopedia: Modern Orthodox Judaism

Cuban Refugees Drive to Florida

Belive me, and Steve Harvey, we have proof positive that Cuba sucks: Cubans converting a Chevy into a boat and driving to Florida.

I ask again; do we, Modern Orthodox Jews, who have pride in our knowledge of history, and who do not shy away from confronting the surrounding culture - do we actively support the Cuban refugee plight? Aren't these Cubans just 'refusniks?'

True, they only want political freedom/asylum while the Jews of the Soviet Union wanted religious freedom as well, but freedom - like infinity - may not be cumulative.

Are we afraid to fight the Cuban government because there are Jews still living there and we want to protect them? Or do we say that the tyranny of Cuba is the political equivalent of terrorism and we can't let them dictate our rules. The Jews in Cuba have it bad - because of the evil overlords - our fighting for the freedom of all Cubans is a moral fight that can't be compromised by muddled maneuverings (i.e. that our silence will make it better for the Cuban Jews; I have a feeling that by putting the pressure on Cuba, we will actually make it better for all the people because the Cuban tyrants will then be fighting against our strength instead of our capitulation).

Another reason to repudiate the idea that being quiet will help the Cubans is that moral wrongs never succeed in creating moral rights.

Of course - given the recent "news" that the Bushistas invented all the "evidence" about WMDs in Iraq - if the only reason we went into Iraq was to depose a dictator, then why don't we invoke the Monroe Doctrine and kick Castro out once and for all?

The Rav's 10th Yahrzeit

Around the YU-affiliated world, there have been a number of lectures, classes, shiurim, and othersuch related to the 10th yahrzeit of the Rav (who died on the 18th Nisan, 5753). They also trumpet the fact that it would have been the 100th birthday of the Rav - like that number matters in some way. I usually hear of the "how old they would have been" connected to celebrities and rock-stars who were cut short by tragedy (e.g. Elvis, Gandhi) and not to anyone who died at 90. Quick, how old would Rav Moshe Feinstein have been this year? Who knows?!

The 100th Birthday stuff is indicative of a larger googley-eyed hero worship of the Rav which I would find disturbing had I not seen it all the time when I was in RIETS. Its related to the old Hamaveser joke: "Modern Orthodox Rebbe Cards... collect both!"

[Historical note, I am now listening to Tenacious D's "Wonderboy"]

On the plus side, all this Googy-Eyed-Hero-Worship (GEHW) has produced many good works on the Rav, a bona-fide genius whose work *does* merit study and analysis. However, I don't see the open-ended historical and intellectual analysis that is indicative of a healthy idea system. For instance, will we see a biography that is critical of the Rav, especially as it relates to his personality? From what I can tell, I don't think I would have liked being in the Rav's shiur. (Although being there would have injected me with enough cognitive dissonance that I would have ultimately appreciated the experience.)

Will we see an intellectual review of the Rav's work that points out his rigid 19th Century German idea structure (2 concept dialectics as far as the eye can see!) or his turgid writing style? Not likely. We *will* see articles that emulate both lacunae; that recapitulate the "chakiras" and the over-adjectived multi-polysyllabic Tetris like sentences. And these articles won't necessarily be about the Rav! Rather, they will be GEHW mimic pieces that think that if you dress and sound like Elvis you'll be considered one of the King's subjects.

I guess this is standard for disciples of a guru. If I recall correctly, the students of Freud acted this way. [Quick, somebody, write a dissertation comparing Freud and the Rav!]. Another indicator of the Guru-Disciple syndrome is that books and articles are judged by their author's merit - i.e. how close was this author to the Rav. Some of his relatives have tried to cash in on this - making absurd claims in the name of the Rav because they happen to share some similar neucleotides.

What has sparked this recent Styx Screed is a book I bought on Sunday. The Religious Zionistist of America convention was at [my shul] this Sunday and I saw some feller hawking books in our lobby. Naturally, I was drawn to the books like a smack-addict but when I saw that it was a book on the Rav, I was immediately skeptical. However, it is the first book published by the famed Soloveitchik Institute. This should not be confused by the "MeOtzar HoRav" Foundation which has published three Rav books. Yeah, this all reminds me of the death of Alexander.

Anyhoo, the book is a collection of eulogies of the Rav. Memories of a Giant, ed. by Michael A. Bierman. (ISBN 965-7108-50-0, Urim Publications). Which just proves the point, no? The *first* book is about being googy-eyed about the man. More later.