How does a computer software salesman make love? He sits at the edge of the bed and tells his lover how good it is going to be. :>)
Looking forward to the articles.
can't wait - especially for 2 and 4
Where's RA"L's response?
May I assume that you've already heard about Olmert firing Rabbi Druckman? Any comments?
He wasn't fired. It was a scheduled retirement, and my friends in the giur system knew about this two weeks before the infamous psak din.
Plagarism?
http://www.yutorah.org/showShiur...Non-
Kosher_Food
You can answer to my email.
Kol Tuv
I just noticed an essay pointed out something interesting: That Modi'in where you live is both interesting and lucky about the fact that while it is a relatively large city, it nonetheless has no Mo'etzah Datit. Instead it has a regular municipal unit to deal with religious services, which is run by the directly-elected representatives at city hall.
I wonder if you have any idea how amazing that is. It also seems to be very relevant to your posts on Israeli synagogues and community rabbis. Because Modi'in synagogues, not being dependent on a mo'etza datit -- that is a big factor contributing to their independence (and that of their rabbis) not found in other Israeli cities.
I too would love to see Rav Lichtenstein’s response... So far I'm much less impressed with Rabbi Druckman
Hi, this is a revised and updated version of the comments I made earlier on Israeli synagogue rabbis. Things have been happening in the short time since then, and since the issue is so important I wanted to make sure a good version is available here too. For more, see my webpage on "Open Torah."
B. Elected Rabbis
In North America, a rabbi is chosen freely by the membership of a synagogue, and both sides are held accountable to a signed contract between them. But in Israeli cities and towns, the local “chief rabbis” for cities and neighborhoods are appointed through an undemocratic process, and once selected they serve for life (they cannot be fired). This makes it very hard for a community to wind up with the kind of rabbi it wants and needs.
The following is an extreme (but true) example of the vast difference between the two systems: A large number of English-speakers all attended the same synagogue in a small Israeli town. They learned of a recently retired Orthodox American rabbi who planned to make aliyah, and was considering settling in their town. So they raised a modest sum of money amongst themselves, in order to hire him as their part-time rabbi and facilitate his aliyah. When the town’s chief Ashkenazic rabbi heard about this plan, he called a meeting and told them: “I am the rabbi of this town. If there is to be a rabbi for this synagogue, it will be the rabbi of my choice. And if money is raised to pay a rabbi, then it will pay the rabbi that I appoint.”
The board of the shul consulted a lawyer who advised them that city rabbi was fully within his rights to deny them their choice of rabbi. (The bit about the money was apparently an empty threat, but one that nonetheless worked.) Some board members still did not want to give in (perhaps by hiring the American rabbi unofficially) but the gabbai and other influential members were scared. In the end the immigrant rabbi was not hired, and some years later a rav beholden to the city rabbi was named official rabbi by the board (for a lifetime according to the law).
The appointed rabbi is a fine Torah scholar and a very pleasant person, but one who doesn’t develop close relationships with his congregants. He tolerates the long-term Zionist trappings of the synagogue (such as recitation of the prayer for the State), but otherwise disallows social initiatives that have a non-chareidi flavor. Currently he is involved in a dispute for refusing to allow women to serve on the board of the synagogue. His basic appropriateness, of course, doesn’t justify the lack of accountability implicit in a lifetime job not subject to contract.
The agreement with the shul stipulated that the rabbi would have absolutely no economic relationship with the congregation (i.e. they pay him no salary). Of course, that still allows the city rabbi to list the synagogue as one he supplies a rabbi for when reporting on activities to donors (and even pay a salary funded through the donations).
Needless to say, the sort of rabbi who could lead an “Open Synagogue” has little or no chance of being recognized or supported by the local rabbinate in most Israeli cities. In the eyes of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, an Orthodox rabbi or community without its sanction has the same status as a Reform rabbi or community.
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