Some 60 rabbis from 25 different countries took part in a three-day conference in Jerusalem on Practical Halakhah. One rabbi summed up: “The Torah will come forth from Zion.”
The conference was sponsored and organized by the Yad HaRav Herzog Institute, in memory of Israel’s first Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac HaLevy Herzog.
Sessions dealt with Jewish Law and various facets of modern life, including Economics, Medicine, Technology, Environment, Agriculture and more.
One session - on Modern Rabbinic Leadership - featured three humorous skits by the Aspeklaria Theater, headed by Rabbi and actor Haggai Lober. A panel of five rabbis was asked to comment on the issues raised in each skit.
One skit featured a non-religious father who wished to have his son’s Bar Mitzvah celebrated in an Orthodox synagogue – but on his own terms. When the boy protests that he won’t be allowed to have photographs or music at his Sabbath Bar-Mitzvah, the father assures him, “They’re scared stiff that we’ll go to the Reform temple, so with a little arm-twisting, they’ll do whatever we want.”
The rabbi, in fact, does find various ultra-dubious Halakhic loopholes to permit picture-taking, women’s participation, driving to the synagogue, and more – but when told that the boy’s Uncle Hans, a Christian priest, must deliver a speech in the synagogue for the occasion, he finally faints.
All the rabbis on the panel were unanimous in demanding 100% adherence to Jewish Law under all circumstances. As Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef explained, however, the question is what does Jewish Law say in various circumstances? “Every rabbi must know his own congregation,” the son of former Chief Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef said, “and must decide in every given situation whether the need to stand firm against the slightest threat to observance is tantamount, or whether it is more important to try to bring the congregants closer to Torah via ‘ways of pleasantness.’”
Getting to Know You
Rabbi Shlomo Hochberg, the rabbi of the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates in New York, said, “Problems such as the one in the skit could never occur in our communities, because we make sure to get to know the families – even those who don’t frequent the synagogue – well before they want to have a Bar Mitzvah. In our town, every Bar Mitzvah boy spends a Sabbath with our family once a month in the year before the Bar Mitzvah.”
Rabbi David Stav, Rabbi of central Israel’s Shoham (population 20,000), added, “There must be clear rules for Bar Mitzvahs, and that makes it easier for all concerned. For instance, many synagogues do not allow any food to be brought in by anyone other than a particular recognized caterer. Travel by car? - the immediate family can be asked not to arrive by car. Regarding who receives an aliyah [the honor of reciting a blessing over the Torah], the Bar Mitzvah boy himself is not considered a Sabbath-violator, since he’s just starting out, but for the others – extra aliyot can be added so that Sabbath-violators are not included in the regular seven.”
Mice and Bar Mitzvahs
Rabbi Chaim Eisenberg of Vienna, Chief Rabbi of Austria, suggested that Bar Mitzvahs be commemorated on non-Sabbath days, such as Rosh Chodesh and Chanukah, in order to obviate problems. He emphasized the importance of ensuring that the Bar Mitzvah is a positive experience, “in order to make sure that they will want to return. The story is told of a modern rabbi whose temple had a problem with mice. When poison and cats did not do the trick, he suggested putting yarmulkes on the mice and giving them Bar Mitzvahs – thus ensuring that they would never return… It’s a good joke, but it underscores the need to make sure that this does not happen with the Bar Mitzvah boys in our synagogues.”
SMS and Jewish Law
Another skit dealt with the increasing phenomenon of Torah study and Halakhic questions via the internet and SMS text messages. How are rabbis to deal with their “replacement” by such tools? Rabbi Yaron Ben-David of Kibbutz Be’erot Yitzchak said, “This is less of an issue for community rabbis abroad, where the rabbi is the address for everything Jewish. But again: The rabbi has to reach out and make connections with his congregants, or else they will search elsewhere.”
Rabbi Hochberg said, “The internet helps the questioners ask more intelligent and educated questions; they collect information and then come to ask the rabbi. This helps ‘glorify and magnify Torah’ and is a very positive development.”
Rabbi Stav: “A rabbi who wishes to issue a ruling can no longer simply declare it; he must now say, ‘I know, and you know, that there are different opinions, but I believe that such-and-such is the proper approach’ – and then he must explain and persuade.”
More Time to Study Torah
Regarding the fact that community rabbis are called on less often to officiate at weddings because yeshiva heads often take their place, Rabbi Stav said, “Rabbis should know that their main occupation must be studying Torah. They should therefore be happy at this turn of events, which gives them more time to be engaged in their main occupation.”
A Wife, Not a Chavruta
The final skit dealt with increased participation by women in Torah study and in communal life. A blind date between a yeshiva student and a scholarly young girl who consistently corrects him on matters of Jewish Law, citing chapter and verse, ends when the boy walks out in exasperation, grumbling, “I'm looking for a girl to marry, not a partner for Torah study!”
Rabbi Stav said, “This issue has caught us, the rabbis, somewhat by surprise. We reacted to every seeming innovation as if it came from the Reform movement. For instance, we are against women reading the Megillah on Purim, when in fact there is only one opinion, the Shaar HaTziyun, that forbids it... If something is forbidden, such as wearing a tallit, it is forbidden, but if it is not forbidden, such as kissing the Torah, then it is not."
"It’s true," he said, "that sometimes there are ‘hidden agendas’ behind the desire to institute a particular innovation – but then this is no longer a matter of Jewish Law, but rather of dialogue and trying to discuss together what it will lead to and if it will bring positive results or not.”
Bat Mitzvahs at the Synagogue
Rabbi Stav discussed Bat Mitzvah ceremonies as an example: “Is it conceivable that there would not be a ceremony to commemorate a young girl’s entrance into the ‘yoke of the Torah commandments’? Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, of saintly memory, at first forbade holding such ceremonies in the synagogue because of fear that it was a Conservative Judaism-type thing – but do our young girls [in Israel – ed.] today even know what Conservative Judaism is?!”
"Consult With Your Elders"
Rabbi Yitzchak Peretz, Chief Rabbi of Raanana and the elder statesman of the panel, said, “I respect and love our young rabbis, and they have the best intentions – but sometimes they make mistakes which can cost us dearly. We must be cautious. The only safe approach is always to consult with the Torah giants of the generation; whoever does so will not make a mistake.”
Rabbi Ben-David: “The Torah giants of our generation don’t know my community as well as I do… The motives of those who wish to innovate must be checked: If the motives are feminist in nature, then I will not cooperate. But if the goal is really to increase spirituality, then it’s our job to help.”
Knowledge is the Key
Rabbi Hochberg: “I have taught girls and women for nearly 15 years in Stern College, and I can say that the more they study, the more these desires to take part in problematic areas drop and decline. Fifteen year ago, many women wanted to take an active role in the prayers, etc., but nowadays, they have learned more, and the situation is different.”
Other topics discussed at the conference included: Who has the rights to frozen embryos and fertilized egg cells? … Stem Cell research in light of Jewish law… Keeping Sabbath in hotels… The Halakhic status of companies and not-for-profit associations… Copyright laws in the modern age… The search for the blue dye for tzitzit… and more.