Rabbis – Excerpted

“The ability of an individual halakhist to bring about a change depends…on one’s ability to foresee the opposition of one’s peers to one’s innovation”

1 November 2018 Drew KaplanHalakhah

…the ability of an individual halakhist to bring about a change depends, to a certain extent, on his ability to foresee the opposition of his peers to his innovation. From these conclusions, it is possible[…]

“I want to know what my rabbi thinks of Jacob and Rachel, not of Pence and Pelosi”

14 June 201712 June 2017 Drew KaplanPolitics in America

I know outstanding rabbis on the left of the political spectrum and others on the right. You can love Torah and vote for Trump. You can love Torah and think Trump is a blot on[…]

“…it is, I think, the biggest, the one most central to the debates within Orthodoxy today, and the most personal”

9 March 20176 March 2017 Drew KaplanOrthodoxy

It is impossible to credit the claim that it doesn’t matter at all to the content of the halakhic system that those admitted into the tent of Torah, those with a seat at the table,[…]

“There are women who are learned and it is only fitting that they too have a title”

28 November 201617 November 2016 Drew KaplanModern Orthodoxy

…I still don’t see the objection to female clergy. I am not talking about women pulpit rabbis, but what is the problem with a woman chaplain at a hospital or a woman teacher of advanced[…]

“Gadolhood is less about the individual erudition of a given rabbi and more about a social fact…”

6 November 20162 November 2016 Drew KaplanRabbis

Gadolhood is less about the individual erudition of a given rabbi and more about a social fact, reflecting the experience of a community bound by a concrete conception of Torah, halakha, and rabbinic authority. This[…]

“…although Modern Orthodoxy has produced many brilliant and dedicated leaders and laymen, it has yet to cultivate younger figures possessing the authority and broad appeal of its founding fathers”

30 March 201620 March 2016 Drew KaplanJews in America

The charge that the establishment lacks even a healthy amount of dynamism is undeniably correct. Indeed, the RCA’s long failure to have clearly articulated the reasons behind a rabbinical norm that has held for over[…]

“The firmness of R. lsserles finds its fullest expression in his commentary on the Shulchan Aruch”

16 March 2016 Drew KaplanHalakhic Books/Works/Writings

The firmness of R. lsserles finds its fullest expression in his commentary on the Shulchan Aruch and in the ד”מ, which served as a basis for the commentary. There we see R. Isserles as the[…]

“A rabbi needs sufficient training to go deeper into Jewish tradition than a well-read Jew”

9 March 20168 March 2016 Drew KaplanRabbis

A rabbi needs sufficient training to go deeper into Jewish tradition than a well-read Jew. The fact is, a student can develop that level of expertise anywhere. In my experience, the established movement-connected seminaries turn[…]

“R. Elijah Zvi Soloveitchik…wanted Christians to understand their scripture anew through sympathetic Jewish eyes and to educate his Jewish readers about their misunderstanding of Christianity”

25 January 201619 January 2016 Drew KaplanRabbis

R. Elijah Zvi Soloveitchik, the traditional rabbi from Lithuania…is actually more sympathetic to Christian doctrine, even the doctrine of the Trinity, and much more positive about the symbiosis between Judaism and Christianity than almost all[…]

“Rabbis in America and in Israel talk about political issues all the time, and maybe it is appropriate to ask whether that is a good policy for them and for the community”

11 October 20151 October 2015 Drew KaplanRabbis

Rabbis in America and in Israel are used to speaking about political issues. They do it all the time. Do I want rabbis in America — not that it matters whether I do — not[…]

Excerpted

Excerpts of Interest

Category: Rabbis

“The ability of an individual halakhist to bring about a change depends…on one’s ability to foresee the opposition of one’s peers to one’s innovation”

“I want to know what my rabbi thinks of Jacob and Rachel, not of Pence and Pelosi”

“…it is, I think, the biggest, the one most central to the debates within Orthodoxy today, and the most personal”

“There are women who are learned and it is only fitting that they too have a title”

“Gadolhood is less about the individual erudition of a given rabbi and more about a social fact…”

“…although Modern Orthodoxy has produced many brilliant and dedicated leaders and laymen, it has yet to cultivate younger figures possessing the authority and broad appeal of its founding fathers”

“The firmness of R. lsserles finds its fullest expression in his commentary on the Shulchan Aruch”

“A rabbi needs sufficient training to go deeper into Jewish tradition than a well-read Jew”

“R. Elijah Zvi Soloveitchik…wanted Christians to understand their scripture anew through sympathetic Jewish eyes and to educate his Jewish readers about their misunderstanding of Christianity”

“Rabbis in America and in Israel talk about political issues all the time, and maybe it is appropriate to ask whether that is a good policy for them and for the community”