Yated article reaches intended audience

From The kids are Actually Rabbis:

Founded by Rabbi Avi Weiss from the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale,NY, (www.hir.org) Chovevei is attempting to create a generation of "open Orthodox" rabbis and leaders. Not everyone is: a) accepting of them and their ideas; and b) tolerant of their existence. I provided a link in an earlier post that referenced a recent article about how Chovevei is evil and dangerous. (Yeshivat Chovevei Torah: Is It Orthodox?) This was an article that was referenced over and over again last night as the "kids" [YCT rabbinical students] spoke [at the YCT 4th annual dinner].

Here's some left-wing rhetoric from the same blog post as above:

There was a post I read yesterday, about a religious woman riding an Egged bus to the Kotel for sunrise services. Without a long winded explanation, she refused to move to the back of the bus, (which is where women are supposed to sit apparently, according to a recent halachic ruling) and was beaten severerly by a group of Charedim. She did not go quietly, and attempted to have the perpetrator arrested, and scolded those on the bus for allowing a religious woman on her way to davening to be beaten.

And this is why we need Chovevei. So that our women will not be beaten because they want to daven.

I see this blogger's point of view...we need Yeshivat Chovevei Torah to fight the rampant epidemic of right-wing/Chareidi misogynistic women beaters! This problem is especially virulent in the U.S., where YCT is based and has focused its musmachim. Thank you YCT for working hard to end the violence against our Jewish women.

I think Chovevei Torah needs more advocates like this blogger.

Mechitza magic: now you see it, now you don't

This post discusses some of Rabbi Darren Kleinberg's (Yeshivat Chovevei Torah class of 2005) views about mechitza. Foremostly, I wish to stress that his shul (Kidma) DOES have a mechitza. However, I make no assertions as to its usage or kashrus. You can see Kidma's mechitza in action at "YCT Alumnus Brings Open Orthodoxy to the Southwest" (YCT Fall 2006 newsletter, p.7).

Rabbi Kleinberg wrote an op-ed titled "Getting pluralism back on track" (8/11/2006). Here's an excerpt that implies that it's acceptable for a Jew to partake in a co-ed prayer gathering without a mechitza and without other non-negotiable Orthodox considerations:

For Jews from different segments of the community to gain a deeper understanding and therefore a deeper respect for one another, they must engage in a process of exposure to one another's experience as Jews. That includes crossing the thresholds of other denominations' houses of worship, not only for a celebration but also to pray together.

I addressed Rabbi Kleinberg’s assertions in a Letter to the Editor (8/25/2006):

Kleinberg states that we must cross "the thresholds of other denominations' houses of worship, not only for a celebration but also to pray together." However, it is against Halacha for an Orthodox Jew to pray in a synagogue with a woman cantor and without a mechitza (a divider between men and women).

For clarification of the mechitza issue, I had a brief email dialogue with Rabbi Kleinberg on 8/18/2006…

My letter to Rabbi Kleinberg:

In your recent article in Jewish News of Phoenix, you stated that we Jews must cross "...the thresholds of other denominations' houses of worship, not only for a celebration but also to pray together."

However, in an article in Forward magazine (9/20/2002), your mentor Rabbi Avi Weiss was quoted as stating: "Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, as an Orthodox institution, requires that its students daven only in synagogues with mechitzot."

Rabbi Kleinberg's Response:

Rabbi Weiss and I may well have different stands on this issue - although I believe that that statement refers specifically to regular attendance as opposed to what I was referring to.

My Response...
Via email, I said to Rabbi Kleinberg that I fail to see the difference between attending (a non-mechitza prayer service) one time or a hundred times.

Rabbi Kleinberg's Response:

In halacha we do have precedent for the idea that something can be done infrequently but should not become the regular practice. For an interesting example of this, see Rabbi Moshe Feinsteins discussion of "biah shelo c'darka" - i.e. sexual practice that deviates from the missionary position.

The reason I use this example is because it deals with an area of living in which one might expect halacha to be more rigid (compare to Catholics) - and yet R.Moshe is very broad-minded in his responsa.

So too here - the distinction between regular attendance in a non-Orthodox shul for fulfillment of one's personal prayer obligations and a more "now-and-then" attendance for the greater good of the Jewish people (if one sees it as such - of course many will not agree with me on this point either) is an important one.

An unnamed rabbi suggested that I should have titled this post, "Mechitza shelo c'darka". Or, I was thinking maybe a Shakespearean Jewish motif: "To be-ah shelo c'darka" or "Not to be-ah shelo c'darka", that is the question of mechitza.

The $64,000 question...where and how can I learn to make such fascinating Torah connections and insights?

Madda uTorah instead of Torah uMadda

I came across interesting comments by a Ya'akov Simon. The email address of the commenter corresponds to Rabbi Ya'akov Simon, a Yeshivat Chovevei Torah graduate (at the time, he was a YCT student). The commenter responds to "negative reactions" of the Jewish Week op-ed article, "Choosing Public School Over Yeshiva" by a Ms. Bat Sheva Marcus (a founding board member of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance). The synopsis of the Jewish Week article is that Ms. Marcus sent two of her three children to public school instead of a Yeshiva/Jewish school because of secular considerations.

My commentary is interspersed within the commenter's text:

I am shocked at the negative reactions to Ms. Marcus' Op-Ed piece in the Jewish Week. I grew up non-observant and attended public school in the 80's. I agree with the critiques that the challenges that are faced in public school are difficult, but I do not think that they are insurmountable.

Response: Should an Orthodox Jew view public school as a viable educational alternative to Jewish school, but with challenges that can be overcome? Whether or not a Jewish child/teenager can successfully integrate within a secular educational system and still be a Torah-observant Jew is irrelevant. Public schools represent values (e.g. immodesty) that a young Jewish person should not have to contend with on a protracted, unrelenting basis.

Day-School education is very expensive and it is understandable that a family would choose not to spend money on it.

Response: "Day-School education is very expensive." That is obvious. The Jewish educational system is very broken in this regard. However, it is not "understandable that a family would choose not to spend money on it." That is a cop-out. There are options (e.g. scholarships) to make the finances work better. It's unfortunate that the finances of Jewish education can be a burden, but that is an issue to be dealt with, not disregarded by leaving the system.

If a child has a n'tiah [proclivity] for secular subjects that are taught better in a public school, then let them learn in public school and receive private tutoring for liumdei kodesh.

Response: I am troubled that this statement prioritizes secular over religious studies. Why not hire tutors for secular subjects instead? There are other great ways to supplement both limudei chol and kadosh outside the confines of standard school. For example, computer-learning, and some Torah-observant Jews may disagree with this secular suggestion - supplemental classes provided by a public school or university. The primary schooling must remain Jewish.

If we are willing to send our children to secular universities, then one could make a convincing case that it is similarly acceptable to send our children to secular secondary schools. Because a high school student will live at home, unlike a university student. And a strong home environment and influence can counterbalance the influence of secular culture in public school.

Response: A Jewish way of life is a Torah way of life that rigorously revolves around time (e.g. daily prayers and Jewish holidays), religious observance and service, and community. Should pre-college Jewish students be placed into a daily environment that is antithetical to that way of life? At the college level, there are very few Orthodox Jewish options available and one would expect a college student to have a less-influenceable established pattern of behavior than a secondary school student living at home or not.

However there is one important caveat, education is unique to each child. One child can thrive in public school where another will fail. How do you know that this child, Yedidyah, would thrive in day school. It is possible that he could be intellectually bored and frustrated and have a negative Jewish experience. I have met many adults that were turned-off to Torah and Mitzvot because of their Jewish Day School experience. I agree that as a general rule it is better to send a Jewish child to Day School than public school. But exceptions can and should be made. I am not saying whether I agree or disagree with Ms. Marcus' specific decision, but I think that a blanket rejection and personal attacks are unwarranted.

Response: Personal attacks are unwarranted. Blanket rejection of full-time public school attendance by pre-college age Torah-observant Jews is warranted. A Torah-observant Jew should prioritize religious education and environment over secular.

There are reasonable extenuating circumstances why a (pre-college) Jewish student would attend a secular school instead of a Jewish one. For example, a student may be denied admissions to a Jewish school because of insurmountable behavioral problems. Or, a child may have severe special needs that cannot be met by a Jewish school. Lack of an exceptional secular education is not a "special need" that warrants leaving the Jewish school system. Parents should expect academic excellence in both religious and academic subjects from Jewish schools - with the presupposition that Jewish education comes first.

I wonder if Yeshivat Chovevei Torah or Yeshiva University concur with the idea that secular academic standards are a valid reason for a Jewish child/teenager to attend a public school over a Jewish one.

Jewish Week letters to editor, responding to "Choosing Public School Over Yeshiva":

• Best For Child (01/17/2003), David L. Blatt
  
• Rabbis Agree (01/17/2003), Rabbi Hershel Billet
  
• Brother Speaks Up (01/10/2003), Yishai Schwartz
  
• Improper Forum (01/10/2003), Rabbi Binyamin Blau
  
• Statistical Evidence (01/10/2003), Michael Feldstein
  
• Two Articles (01/10/2003), Stuart Pilichowski
  
• Yeshiva Tuitions (01/10/2003), N. Horowitz
  
• Choosing Schools (01/03/2003), Daniel Goodman
  
• Jewish Education (01/03/2003), Michael Schulder
  
• Secular Temptations (01/03/2003), Gary Heller
  

Relevant links:
- Evanston Jew: Orthodox Poverty and Wealth

Woman rabbi receives ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah...

...that is what the newspaper headlines may be in the future. There is interesting circumstantial evidence that this is the direction that YCT may eventually go in.

The Past: Let's start at the top of the slope...
The 1998 cover story from Religion & Ethics, "Women Rabbis" (Episode no. 124. 2/13/1998) featured the first Orthodox woman "Congregational Intern" at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, instituted by Rabbi Avi Weiss (rabbi of HIR and founder and dean of YCT).

MARY ALICE WILLIAMS: What you are looking at is a revolution, an innovation in Orthodox Judaism, and it's embodied in this 24-year-old. Sharona Margolin Halickman has broken through a gender barrier unbreached for 5,000 years. She is one of the first women to serve in a professional role like this in a Orthodox synagogue. Her title is Congregational Intern. She is not a rabbi, but she's darn close.
...
Rabbi MOSHE FASKOWITZ (National Council of Young Israel): What we've always learned is that it starts very innocently, very quietly and eventually -- there's an agenda here, and eventually what will happen is this internship will grow into a different kind of position, and it will be a different job definition, and it will include those areas in which women are absolutely prohibited.

Rabbi Avi WEISS: I respectfully disagree. I think that this enhances spirituality and brings more women into our fold. But look, when you do something that's different, it's bound to create controversy.
...
Ms. HALICKMAN: If we use the term "rabbi," you know, for something similar to what I'm doing, it would really exclude most of the Orthodox community, and it wouldn't become accepted, and we want to keep it accepted within the Orthodox community.

The Present: What's good for the faculty is good for the students
Rabbi B. Elka Abrahamson was listed as a member of the YCT adjunct faculty. She received ordination from Hebrew Union College, a Reform seminary. Rabbi Naomi Kalish, a Conservative woman rabbi, has also been listed as a member of the YCT adjunct faculty. All YCT instructors teach seminary-related classes. YCT is a rabbinical seminary, not a 4-year university.

By listing the title "Rabbi" before a man's or woman's name, YCT is certainly acknowledging that anyone with that title is recognized as a rabbi. I see no YCT distinction in the rabbinical title of their women rabbi faculty from that of Rabbi Avi Weiss (Dean) or Rabbi Dov Linzer (Rosh Yeshiva).

Based on their Reform and Conservative women rabbi faculty precedents, YCT may eventually hire an Orthodox woman rabbi. Recently, a woman received Orthodox rabbinical ordination (it was not from YCT, and it was noted that it was not exactly the same as for men). More Orthodox woman rabbis may follow.

If women rabbis are good enough to teach YCT male seminary students, then why shouldn’t YCT also ordain those same women? At a private religious seminary, doesn’t the student body typically reflect the faculty?

Anything you can do, I can do better
Ms. Dina Najman, an Orthodox woman, was appointed spiritual leader of an Orthodox-oriented congregation.

Concerning Ms. Najman’s appointment, Rabbi Dov Linzer, Rosh Yeshiva of Chovevei Torah, stated “She can do a better job than a large number of rabbis just coming out of rabbinical school.”

I will assume that Rabbi Linzer is referring to male orthodox rabbis ”just coming out of rabbinical school”. So, doesn’t his comment imply a rhetorical follow-up question…”Why not make her a rabbi?”

Rabbi Linzer’s comment can also be perceived as a backhanded compliment that Ms. Najman may better qualified than many men, but because she is an Orthodox woman she can never obtain the status/title of Orthodox rabbi.

Why even compare Ms. Najman to male rabbis? Why not compare her to learned men and women - focusing on her abilities instead of titles? Or better yet, why compare at all?

The Future...
Will YCT or a YCT sister school eventually ordain women rabbis? Only time will tell…

Side point: In the Hebrew language, the title "rabbi" may not be grammatically correct for a woman, however "rabbi" is unisex in the English vernacular. See On the Grammatical Question of Women Rabbis by YCT student, Drew Kaplan

Kol Isha for some, not for others

Drew Kaplan (a Chovevei Torah seminary student) stated that he attended a musical performance of Pharaoh's Daughter.

Here is the chat transcript when someone questioned him about the potential transgression of Kol Isha:

Eliyahu said...
Drew, with all due respect, doesn't going to Pharaoh's Daughter violate Kol Isha?
9/25/2006 5:06 PM

Drew_Kaplan said...
Eliyahu,It all depends on one's understanding of kol isha. So, for me, Pharoah's Daughter is fine, although, for example, listening to Neshama Carlebach live is something with which I am not comfortable.

Here's an interesting continuation of that discussion in the same thread:

jdub said...
could you explain the distinction b/w Pharaoh's daughter (lead singer, Basya Schechter) and Neshama Carlebach? Not challenging, just questioning the distinction. Is it because Basya (a college classmate of mine from way back) is backed by a band? I'm not sure I understand how you draw the line.
10/04/2006 3:44 PM

Drew_Kaplan said...
JDub,It's not necessarily that Schechter is backed by a band, but in this case, it is. Such that Schechter's voice doesn't hit my ears the same way that Carlebach's does. It's about how it sounds.
10/04/2006 4:11 PM

jdub said...
so it's a subjective thing? I don't think that's exactly supportable by halacha. I personally draw a live vs. recorded distinction, which is well supportable, but I don't think the "how it sounds" has any textual support. Can you support that?10/05/2006 5:50 PM

Drew Kaplan is an Orthodox seminary student. I wonder if terse statements like his give a misguided perception of the halachos of Kol Isha.

Kol Isha halachic sources
- Sources Regarding Kol Isha
- Cherney, Ben. Kol Isha Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society 10, 57-75.
- Kol Isha by Rabbi Saul Berman