Haholchim B'Torat HaShem
Haholchim B'Torat HaShem
  • Followers 30
  • Following 1
  • Updates 0
  Blog
The Conversion Crisis Part 12
Thursday December 21 2017, 11:56 AM Conversion
(Please remember that this series is NOT about Jewish Feminism, but rather how feminist attitudes and demands have been, and continue to be seen as a threat to the rabbinate, especially in terms of female converts) As you may recall from previous...
Comments Likes
The Conversion Crisis Part 13
Thursday December 21 2017, 11:55 AM Conversion
In 1807, Napoleon, concerned if Jews could ever become real Frenchmen, in exchange for full civil rights, convened what he called a "Sanhedrin" of 71 rabbis from all over his empire, presenting them with questions as to their beliefs, and how they...
Comments Likes
The Conversion Crisis Part 14
Thursday December 21 2017, 11:54 AM Conversion
Although the various doctrines I have described seem like politics, and even hate, this is not necessarily true (although there are politicians and haters among us). We essentially have two definitions of Orthodoxy. One is all Jews who beleive in...
Comments Likes
The Conversion Crisis Part 15
Thursday December 21 2017, 11:53 AM Conversion
When I lived in Cincinnati (1973-1975), I was on the Beit Din both for conversion and divorces (Gittin). An unusual case came before us. A couple came for a "get". After the ceremony, the woman turned to the Beit Din, and said "now I want a letter...
Comments Likes
The Conversion Crisis Part 16
Thursday December 21 2017, 11:51 AM Conversion
Once a rabbi asked me to do him a favor of taking some new utensils to the mikveh for him, as I was headed there anyway. I said "Sure", but I decided to do an experiment. "Do you want me to immerse each utensil once, or are you strict to do it...
Comments Likes
Pre-Tish'ah B'Av Mourning
Thursday December 21 2017, 10:49 AM Tish'ah B'Av
We have already seen how Ashkenazi tradition puts a heavy emphasis on custom. I have also shown how the millennia of persecution, have left a tragic legacy, where mourning rites were expanded greatly. This is especially true of Ashkenazim, where...
Comments Likes
The Noachide Dilemma Part 1
Thursday December 21 2017, 10:49 AM Noachide
Jews are a religion. We are a people. We are an ethnicity. These are all true to an extent, yet none of these is the entire answer. A few years ago, geneticists published the startling finding that the original Ashkenazic community, consisting of...
Comments Likes
The Noachide Dilemma Part 2
Thursday December 21 2017, 10:48 AM Noachide
In a previous series, I brought the words of RAMBAM, showing that his views on conversion are identical to the Talmud, with the exception of the fact that he includes the acceptance of "Jewish fundamentals", which are not included in the Talmudic...
Comments Likes
The Noachide Dilemma Part 3
Thursday December 21 2017, 10:48 AM Noachide
We see in the Torah that there are two kinds of "Gerim" (converts).The "Righteous", or Full Convert, who becomes a Jew in every way, and the Ger Toshav (Resident Alien) who has the right to dwell among us, even in the Land of Israel, and who is to...
Comments Likes
The Noachide Dilemma Part 4
Thursday December 21 2017, 10:47 AM Noachide
Although RAMBAM considered Christianity "in all its forms" to be idolatrous, and such a belief would disqualify a person from being a Noachide, from at least the thirteenth century, many disagreed strongly. The bases for the disagreement are...
Comments Likes
The Noachide Dilemma Part 5
Thursday December 21 2017, 10:46 AM Noachide
I find it remarkable, and a sign of Jewish optimism, that out of the depths of Christian persecution of the Jews, rabbis were making every effort to find interpretations that Christianity is not necessarily idolatry. Besides the issue of Shituf...
Comments Likes
The Noachide Dilemma Part 6
Thursday December 21 2017, 10:46 AM Noachide
I want to make it clear that my intent in these posts is not to try and undersatnd Jesus, nor to try and show how "evil" Christianity is. My intent is to show that, despite all the horrific crimes Christians comitted against the Jews, we should,...
Comments Likes
The Noachide Dilemma Part 7
Thursday December 21 2017, 10:45 AM Noachide
I mentioned in my last post, that Noachidism (the Fearers of the L-rd) was quite popular in the first century BCE and for some time afterwards. We must add a question. Why did it not survive? Why was it so easily defeated and replaced by...
Comments Likes
The Noachide Dilemma Part 8
Thursday December 21 2017, 10:44 AM Noachide
The big question is, in my opinion, can Torah offer the non-Jew a meaningful spiritual life, without the necessity of conversion? We must address two issues here. First, there is great suspicion, or even fear, among many Jews of the non-Jewish...
Comments Likes
The Noachide Dilemma Part 9
Thursday December 21 2017, 10:43 AM Noachide
In the late eighteenth century, the new Hasidic movement was maligned, persecuted, and even excommunicated in Eastern Europe. Without going through the various theories, mostly fanciful, about why the hate and violence occurred, the plain fact was...
Comments Likes
 
 / 27
 
You May Also Like