In a groundbreaking development for divorce rights in Israel, Tzviya Gorodetsky, who has sought a divorce from her husband for 23 years, has been freed from her marriage by a private, ad hoc Orthodox rabbinical court headed by respected Orthodox rabbi and talmudist Rabbi Daniel Sperber.
The ruling could pave the way for more such women to avail themselves of private rabbinical courts, if they believe that they have no chance of ever escaping their failed marriages. It follows other attempts to bypass established religious institutions in such realms as conversion, kashrut and marriage.A similar ruling by another such ad hoc court was issued in 2013.
The Chief Rabbinate is certain to reject the validity of the divorce, but Gorodetsky could likely remarry in a private Orthodox ceremony if she so wished.
Just like in the time of Rechava'am and Yerava'am, we are becoming two peoples again.
ReplyDeleteYou will have the Chareidi who will not budge, will not compromise, will continue to push the strictest standard as the only standard no matter how many people it drives away (let 999 fall if it produces one real talmid chacham) and you will have the non-Chareidi who, without the Chareidi anchor, will slowly drift into Reformative territory.
Who benefits?
Oh, those pesky stubborn Chareidim.
ReplyDeleteThey always refuse to change the Torah.
Can't they be more "modern"?
No. Religious Jews believe that Judaism is based on a God given Torah, which is timeless and eternal. As such, there is no room in Judaism for changes or revisions of the Torah's laws.
Halakha changes all the time, even for Chareidim.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the basic foundation - Chareidism is an innovation, invented by the Chasam Sofer, zt"l. The Litvish yeshiva system is an innovation, invented by Rav Chaim Volozhiner, zt"l, and Chasidism is an invention of the Besht's, zt"l. If Chareidim were honest, then they would wear long flowing robes and sandals like our ancestors did 2000 years ago. They wouldn't use electricity. The teshuvos on anything electronic would be "It's new so we can't revise the Torah's laws to account for it!"
If the Rambam were to come back to life today, he wouldn't recognize the majority of how we practice Judaism.
The Chareidim paint themselves into a corner over and over again by again innovating and making compromise and proper halakhic development forbidden.
There's nothing wrong with taking advantage of and using modern technological innovations.
ReplyDeleteWhat type of clothing to wear, or other cultural differences; are not central to Judaism, and it doesn't really matter, as long as you keep the Mitzvos of the Torah.
However when it comes to core issues of Eishes Ish and Mamzeirus, there is no room for monkeying around with the Torah; even if the radical feminists keep up their raucous screeching.
We fully sympathize with the plight of those who are currently unable to remarry, but we're not impressed with "apikorus" calls for changing the Torah.
"We fully sympathize with the plight of those who are currently unable to
ReplyDeleteremarry, but we're not impressed with "apikorus" calls for changing
the Torah."
Sympathy, but no ability to innovate in halacha? Rav Moshe encouraged rabbis to innovate and not have false modesty about innovating in halacha, to free agunos.
fair enough , but when Rabbi Rackman ztl, and Rav Cardozo shlita or Rabbi Riskin shlita propose changes, you turn Chareidi on them, "no, left wing idiots pandering to the public will"...
ReplyDeleteSperber is from the Open Orthodox camp. His daughter leads an Israeli lesbian organization and he was quoted in support of same gender marriages. He is also known for advocating semicha to women, as he has so participated. But.....when he feels people are too מחמיר ,on קטניות, there..... you can count on his protest......
ReplyDeleteHe meant real heterim as opposed to bogus ones...
ReplyDeleteBogus - as in d' Sherman's self made bd anulling any and all conversions...?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/25249
ReplyDeleteBring proof that Sperber supports gay marriage! See Gordimer article above - no mention of Sperber. Gordimer is the attack dog of right wing extremism. If there was any evidence of Sperber supporting gay marriage, don't you think Gordy would be biting him?
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/25249
ReplyDelete(We cannot fail to note an Israeli Open Orthodox rabbi (Benny Lau) who attended a gay wedding with his well wishes, Rabbi Avi Weiss who, while rejecting Orthodox gay “marriage”, takes a very soft stance on going public on homosexuality, and Open Orthodox Rabbi Dr. Daniel Sperber, who sanctions the idea of “Orthodox” gay marriage, so long as another word, such as “partnership”, is used for it.)
Bring proof that Sperber supports gay marriage! See Gordimer article above - no mention of Sperber. Gordimer is the attack dog of right wing extremism. If there was any evidence of Sperber supporting gay marriage, don't you think Gordy would be biting him?
You missed the word in the quote that you copied and pasted...
ReplyDelete"and Open Orthodox Rabbi Dr. Daniel Sperber, who sanctions the idea of “Orthodox” gay marriage, so long as another word, such as “partnership”, is used for it."
See also Gordimer's article here:
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/yeshivat-chovevei-torah-and-the-ordination-of-gay-men-very-mixed-messages/
R. Dr. Daniel Sperber, who sits on the Yeshivat Maharat Advisory Board and who is a leading proponent of ordination for women, is a senior Open Orthodox leader. R. Dr. Sperber suggested that there is a way to create Orthodox gay marriage-type unions. As reported in Haaretz:
Sperber thinks there may be a way around this. “The problem is with the word ‘marriage,’” he notes. “Perhaps they can call it something else like a ‘partnership.’
The Haaretz article can be found here:
https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-how-homosexuality-splits-the-orthodox-world-1.5383363
As I wrote years ago there is constant development and innovation in halakha but there are steps to be followed
ReplyDelete1) Identify the problem
2) Invent the halakhic solution to fix the problem
3) Revise history so that the innovation is now presented as "It was always this way!"
The whole conversion annulment thing is a great example. Historically, conversions were nearly impossible to annul. Then you had Tropper run into a giyores in the street wearing pants and announcing right then and there that he was annulling her conversion.
And if that's going to be accepted, then why not given Rav Rackman another chance? What's another invented annulment?
Tropper was not just meeting giyorot in the street...
ReplyDeleteTerrific analogy.
ReplyDeleteI am sickened at how people try to twist the Torah into a pretzel.
BRAVO!! HEAR, HEAR!! 👏👏👏
ReplyDeleteVery beautifully stated.
ReplyDeleteAMEN AND AMEN!
We pesky Chareidim know that the Torah has no expiration date!
What is the definition of an "Open Orthodox Rabbi?"
ReplyDeleteI am surmising that is a newly minted term to try to give legitimacy to his outrageous "Halachic" rulings?