Hot answers tagged heterodox
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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.
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.
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
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 ...
5
In an nutshell and as was stated, a person born a Jew is a Jew for life and a person not born a Jew isn't a Jew until he goes through a formal conversion process. While one who adheres to certain tenets of Christianity is removed from the Jewish community (ie his "Jewish" status is compromised) he is still bound by Jewish law (assuming his adherence is a ...
4
A Conservative kesuba can be suspect. As noted in Rabbi Emanuel Feldman's book, "Tales Out of Shul," as a young Orthodox rabbi in Atlanta in the 1960s, he was under tremendous pressure by wealthy members to do a quicky conversion to the member's child's non-Jewish fiancee. He would refuse, and those members would leave the shul and join a Conservative shul, ...
4
As HodofHod mentioned, once a person converts to Judaism, mentally and bodily, the conversion is full and effective spiritually and legally (meaning within Jewish law).
Aside from a few cases of very strict rabbinic interpretations of what is considered a "full and effective" conversion (and attempts, thereby, to retroactively invalidate a person's ...
4
The short answer is: we don't know. The word Temple was first introduced in the title of the organazation which drove to found the Hamburg Temple: The New Isaelite Temple Association of Hamburg, a group of 66 layman (not the leading Reform Rabbis of the time) which arranged for the opening of the Hamburg Temple in 1818.
You can read in The Jew in the Modern ...
4
Many great Tzadikim have praised the Mesilas Yesharim and have said that all they attained was due to learning from it. This includes the Vilna Gaon, Bnei Yissochor, Rabbi Chaim Volozhin, Koznitzer Maggid, and the Opter Maggid. (See here.) The fact that it was accepted by all, Misnagdim and Chasidim, attests to the greatness of this sefer.
4
Per Revach Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch Shlita says that if they are Mechalel Shabbos B'Farhesia they have the same Halacha as a non Jew and there is no requirement for them to wash their hands. However he concludes that if the owner has control then he should require that they wash their hands three times prior to handling the food.
4
There's a pretty good list on Wikipedia.
For reference:
"Platform on Reconstructionism", FRCH Newsletter, Sept. 1986, pages D, E
Exploring Judaism: A Reconstructionist Approach, Rebecca T. Alpert and Jacob J. Staub, The Reconstructionist Press, 1988
David Griffin's article in Jewish Theology and Process Thought, Ed. Sandra B. Lubarsky and ...
4
I don't have a citation (if somebody else does maybe they could edit it in, otherwise I'll keep looking) but R' Moshe Feinstein z'l rules that kefira (heresy) is the same as avoda zara (idol worship) with regards to the halachos of entering a place of worship, and that since reform and conservative reject many if not most of the Rambam's 13 ikarim ...
4
Orthodox: torah, both written and oral, was given by God at Sinai. This includes the rules to apply the law. Chain of authority is per Avot 1:1. We don't make/revisit law today because that requires the Sanhedrin. (Of course, we do continue to interpret law to account for new situations, but we don't overturn existing law.)
Conservative: torah at Sinai ...
4
Without knowing what this ceremony is I would say that orthodox Judaism is averse to instituting any type of ceremony unless there is a valid, orthodox source that can be seen as a precedent (usually the older the better). If for no other reason than to adopt one ceremony would open the floodgates and dilute any meaning (this is a pet peeve I have with ...
3
According to the Pri Megadim (OC 328 M”Z 6) we do not desecrate Shabbos in order to save the life of someone who publicly breaks Shabbos for his own enjoyment [as the Gemora (Eruvin 69b, Chullin 5a) considers such a person like a gentile]. However the Maharam Shik (OC 140) disagrees, and brings the Shu”t Chasam Sofer (YD 341) that even an idolater has ...
3
There are 876 Reform congregations in North America, 499 of which have "Temple" in their names, so the formal name is pretty common and it's not unreasonable to think that people refer to the others as "temples" too. As noted by DoubleAA, the first (apparent) use of the name was the Hamburg synagogue in 1818. Documentation about naming practices that early ...
3
Are these two considered "sects" of Judaism by Jews, or is this just a Christian idea?
No. These are not Judaism, and someone practicing them is not practicing Judaism, regardless of whether they are a Jew or not. (Being a Jew is not dependant on practicing Judaism, as stated in Dan's answer.)
2
Here is an example of a list of required documentation required by an Orthodox Shul in South Africa (in South Africa all marriages that take place in Orthodox Shuls are authorized by the central Beth Din):
Full, unabridged, Birth Certificate.
If this is not readily available, as an interim measure, the Beth Din will accept letters from two reliable ...
2
I can't fully answer the question, but I do remember a story:
A Jew who was driving once stopped a great Rav (I'm sorry that I don't remember who) walking to shul on Shabbos, and asked for directions. The people walking with the Rav expected him to berate or at least ignore the driver, but instead the Rav gave him very exact and detailed directions.
After ...
2
I got here by googling "how to lead a decent seder"--if that's any indication of how things are going. We're famous for a visually exciting table (lice shampoo, boil ointment, a few dozen frogs), and we've got some fun traditions going (throwing ice for hail). But making things religiously meaningful is hard. It helps to visualize the guests and think of ...
2
There is nothing in reconstructionist Judaism which explicitly claims that god does not exist as a function of its theological underpinings. While, according to this wiki entry, some of the movement's founder's ideas seem to lead to his holding a position in line with atheism, some do not. I would surmise that there are individuals who subscribe to the ideas ...
2
I couldn't find any relevant teshuvot on the Rabbinical Assembly web site, and as already noted by Seth J, there isn't a single authority for Orthodox (Modern or otherwise). I can describe what I have observed (primarily in one city). I often attend a Conservative shul for weekday services and occasionally others, and I've visited several Orthodox ...
1
From an answer at Jewishanswers.org, I see that
Naming after a relative has two components. The first is according
honor to that relative and creating a merit for his soul. The second
aspect is that through sharing a name, a ‘spark’ from the deceased’s
soul enters the child’s. This can ultimately inspire the child to
achieve greatness. For this ...
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