Hot answers tagged heterodox
13
In a word, yes. The Midrash (Eichah Rabbah, intro. 2), paraphrasing Jer. 9:12, states:
הלואי אותי עזבו ותורתי שמרו, מתוך שהיו מתעסקין בה, המאור שבה היה מחזירן למוטב
"Would that, even if the Jewish people abandoned Me, they had kept My Torah! By being involved with it, the illumination in it would bring them back to the right path."
Or as the ...
12
The Mesillas Yesharim is certainly one of the most influential and popular seforim ever written. It is considered a basic text in most yeshivos and is widely studied by Jews throughout the world (both in the original language and in translation).
Before we can address the reasons for the immense popularity of this work, we first need to address one of the ...
11
If someone is born to a Jewish mother, regardless of her affiliation or observance, that person is 100% Jewish and allowed to marry another Jew. There is no conversion involved. I guess that this rabbi, in this situation, wants documentation that demonstrates that your friend's mother, and therefore your friend, is indeed Jewish. There are various ways this ...
10
A few ideas:
Get into "round-table" discussions related to the Exodus somehow, in which everyone is encouraged to voice their opinions on the subject at hand. For example, citing the midrash about how the redemption was deserved by the Jews for not changing their "Jewish" attire and names can incite a socio-historical discussion about the role of ...
10
There is an argument between different Rabbis:
Igros Moshe says that one is prohibited to invite someone to a synagogue if the only way one will be able to get there is by car. He says that there are several issues:
Lifnei Iver (he is like one who places a stumbling block). He says this applies even if the people whom he invites live close enough to the ...
9
A large percentage of the families who are affiliated with groups with liberal Judaic practices, such as the Conservative and Reform movement, tends to become less affiliated after their children become bar/bat mitzva age. From my understanding, confirmation, although not a Jewish concept per se, seemed to be a great way of keeping the children and families ...
9
Shulchan Aruch O.C. Siman 128 discuses the qualifications of a Cohen to recite bircas kohanim. Disqualification include having consumed too much alcohol, having a severe speech impediment, blindness, having taken a human life, having married a disqualifying wife (such as a divorcee) and the recent death of a close relation. The Shulchan Aruch (Sif 39) writes ...
8
This is just my guess on things from what I've seen.
There can be a lot of issues going on in each case, so it's worth taking an honest assessment of the full situation, and talking with a rabbi who's both knowledgeable and understanding. If both you and the event host demonstrate genuine caring and communication, that can help a lot of things too.
I ...
8
Strangely enough, I have found that those who aren't interested will tend to go with the flow if you state from the outset that you're going to read through the Hagadah. It will be dry. It may be boring. But if they are mature enough (not particularly opposed to ritual, and your question implies that they are not), just give everyone a Hagadah and say you're ...
8
If I were staying in a non-frum or non-Jewish home, the foremost thing on my mind (outside of all the more common halachos that you mention) would be the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem, and the issur of Chilul Hashem.
Remember that you may be an uncommon sight for them, in some cases even the only orthodox Jew they've ever observed up close. As much as we'd like ...
7
Some of it may indeed be based on the attempt to claim that (G-d forbid) the Torah is not true at all.
The early Bible critics did exactly that - nearly everything described in Tanach was dismissed as a fable. But then, when archeology began to turn up evidence that meshes with the Torah narratives, that approach became untenable.
So the next logical thing ...
7
At least some people who "half-believe" the torah are in transition. Not everybody is a rock-solid believer from birth; for the rest of us, there will be some period during which you are trying to figure out what torah you accept from scientific validation ("yeah, it would be possible for the Sea of Reeds to do that"), what you accept because of publicity ...
7
Rav Moshe in his Igros Moshe EH 2:17 second paragraph he seems to make it clear that for davening it is for sure assur, and even when it is a wedding an Orthodox person should not go. This tshuva was regarding Conservative synagogues; I am guessing that all the more so this would apply to Reform.
7
Provided the conversion was valid, the person is considered a Jew forever. If they "revert" to something other than Judaism, they may be sinning, but that is between them and G-d now.
As far as punishment, they are no different than any other Jew. That is to say, Jewish courts today no longer have the power to punish people for sins against G-d.
6
I believe R' Moshe Feinstein has a responsum regarding an Orthodox rabbi performing a wedding at a heterodox synagogue, in which he says "your job as rabbi is to perform weddings, regardless of location", but I don't recall if he addresses the sanctuary-vs-social-hall aspect. Hopefully I'll find it later?
6
No, and it would be nearly impossible to determine. Every modern survey and census of Jews in America has been performed with the widest possible definition of Jew, in order to obtain the fullest and least-controversial numbers. This usually translates to counting someone as a Jew if they identify themselves as Jewish. (Source)
For example, the most ...
6
According to Wikipedia, Jubilees was written in the later Second Temple era, well past the cut-off date for canonization in the Tanach. It was adopted by the Hasmonians (Chashmonaim), but despite the general Rabbinic dislike of the Hasmonians, it is not mentioned at all by "Pharisaic or Rabbinic sources," eg. the Mishna.
Since the book was not canonized in ...
6
I think if people go into it with the attitude that they're going to be bored and it's just a ritual, don't try shoving things down their throats.
One gimmick might be to "beep" out anyone if they mention Moshe's name (the original haggada made a point of leaving it out; we've since thrown in a paragraph in which it pops up once). Another idea is to outline ...
6
There are a couple of things that I do to engage people who may not be initially interested in sharing their thoughts.
Go around the table and have everyone finish a sentence "slavery is..." "freedom is..."
Do some prep work and print out a different quote for each person at the table. It can be from literature, torah, art whatever. Last year I chose ...
6
Report
This "answer" records what I did this year and how it worked out. I drew from several suggestions in other answers here.
Some context: the two seders had different but overlapping groups of attendees. One has always been a "when do we eat?" seder; the other spends more time but replaces a lot of the traditional content with other readings and ...
6
Rav Aharon Lichtenstein discusses the issue here and quotes Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach as permitting, provided one let them know that sleeping arrangements in the area can be provided. Rav Lichtenstein himself tends to agree, especially if there is a Jewish-educational aspect involved.
6
The gemara actually asks (basically) your question. A few lines later, Rava asks R. Simeon ben Menassia: based on your reasoning I understand why we break Shabbat when it will for sure lead to more net Shabbat observance. But how do you learn that we break Shabbat even when it is only doubtful that there will be more net Shabbat observance? Rava (and the ...
5
Let me float something out there. In some sense one who pursues an explanation for the events in the Torah through natural causes is not totally incorrect. The Torah does not preclude the events from being brought about through the laws of nature. The Torah is just asserting that Hashem initiated the phenomena. Hashem either initiated the event through ...
5
The "quasi-Sephardic pronunciation" you refer to is actually Israeli Hebrew which the Conservative movement (and Modern Orthodox movement and Reform movement) have lately been teaching.
The traditional Conservative movement was built off of the Reform movement which was built off of German minhag - thus a boy wears a tallis when he turns 13, regardless of ...
5
@Alex
Were the Wissenschaft folks even aware of the Yemenite pronunciation?
Not until Even Sapir by Rabbi Yaakov Sapir was published in the 1860s.
As far as whether they considered Sefaradit most pure, it's not monolithic. Shadal, for example, believed that the Ashkenazic qomatz followed the Tiberian masorah. He also pointed out that in Syriac there ...
5
Strictly speaking such a question would have to be addressed on a case by case basis, as the criteria are not straightforward and different areas of halacha don't always use the same criteria.
Assessing a Jew's halachic status within the Jewish community depends on a wide range of factors of which the objective fact of his observance (or lack thereof) is ...
5
As the reform movement "loosely" based this ceremony on the practice of another religion, it would in fact be explicitly prohibited as chukos hagoyim to engage in it.
5
There are vast differences just among the modern Orthodox. If you want "official", you'd have to define some authority to whom everyone subscribes, which is impossible.
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism issues rulings that are supposed to be binding, but aren't, on all member synagogues. Much less are they followed by individuals.
Orthodox ...
5
The Rambam addresses your concern directly, in Hilkhot Birkat Cohanim, chapter 15, law 7:
ואל תתמה ותאמר, ומה תועיל ברכת הדיוט זה--שאין קיבול הברכה תלוי
בכוהנים, אלא בהקדוש ברוך הוא: שנאמר 'ושמו את שמי, על בני ישראל; ואני,
אברכם' --הכוהנים עושים מצוה שנצטוו בה, והקדוש ברוך הוא ברחמיו מברך את
ישראל כחפצו
"Do not be perplexed and say, 'What ...
5
According to Wikipedia and the Jewish Encyclopedia, Reform Judaism, being originally opposed to the idea of Zionism1, called the Hamburg Synagogue "Tempel" to show that they no longer looked forward to the Third Temple in Jerusalem, and that individual, local, temples had taken its place. As DoubleAA points out, none of these sources offer conclusive proof ...
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