Coping with Modernity: An interview with Rabbi Emanuel Rackman

 https://thejewishreview.org/articles/?id=184

Jewish Review: One of the arguments against the ?modern Orthodox? or ?Torah im derekh eretz? point of view is that it seems to inevitably produce individuals who are less committed to halakha and who are less involved in Jewish learning.? Could you comment on this charge?

Rabbi Rackman: It is true, and there is no doubt that the rabbis of the Talmud recognized this too.? They spoke of four men who went into an orchard (the orchard, presumably, is Greek philosophy); one of them looked and went berserk, another one looked and converted to another faith, and one looked and died.? Only one of the four, Rabbi Akiva, entered in peace and came out in peace.? This indicates that we have always been aware of the danger, and that, therefore, not everybody should feel that all secular learning should be approached through an open door.? This is why many Orthodox parents who send their children to universities encourage them to study accounting, to become businessmen, chemists even, but not to engage in the study of philosophy and psychology.? The threats and challenges to Judaism come from the humanities and the social sciences, not so much from the natural sciences.? Natural science, we know, has no pretense to absolute truth; at best it gives you a good guess, a relative truth, and thus most observant Jews can safely enter its realm.? By the same token it is very important for some people to study the humanities, philosophy and social sciences, because, first, we know that the majority of Jews are going to be exposed to modern culture, and hence our permitting the dual exposure to Torah and philosophy, for example, helps to allow those who want to remain loyal Jews to do so without undue conflict.? In addition, we ultimately discover, for example, that the writings of the Rambam and his successors (including those who frowned upon him and prohibited his works) showed an influence of ?secular? ideas.? There were some ideas which emerged from the encounter of torah and secular thought which are of everlasting religious value.? For example, the writings of Samson Rafael Hirsch are so influenced by Immanuel Kant that we cannot fully appreciate Hirsch without an understanding of Kant, and there are indeed some insights of Hirsch, albeit stemming from a Kantian or Hegelian influence, which are valid despite these influences and have and will outlive (what might be perceived to be) the failure of Kant or Hegel.

Context of the Rav Soloveitchik Transcription

 https://jewishlink.news/letters/30336-context-of-the-rav-soloveitchik-transcription

This talk was delivered by the Rav as a response to proposals by Rabbi Emanuel Rackman to resolve the problems faced by women whose husbands refused to grant them a Jewish divorce. Rabbi Rackman was also in line at that time as a top candidate to become president of Yeshiva University.

Rav Soloveitchik’s strident remarks in the piece that you published characterized (without spelling this out) that the innovations that Rabbi Rackman wanted to make in divorce law were (1) heretical and (2) liable to “destroy yahadus (Judaism)” and (3) “methods of self-destruction and suicide.” Harsh words indeed.

And to justify his positions against the Rackman modifications, the Rav made several declarations about the nature of women that he called “permanent ontological principles rooted in the very depth of the human personality,” in particular that “the chazaka of ‘better to dwell with two bodies than to dwell as a widow’” (i.e., the presumption of the Talmud that a woman is better off married than single) is a “metaphysical curse, rooted in the feminine personality.”

The Rav’s speech succeeded to suppress Rabbi Rackman’s proposals at the time and to marginalize him at YU, thus ending his chances to ascend to the presidency of Yeshiva University. Rackman went on to become president and chancellor at Bar Ilan University in Israel and to initiate independent innovations in the area of Jewish divorce without the approval of Rav Soloveitchik or other rabbis at Yeshiva University.

Rackman's aguna solution was rejected by Modern Orthodox also - Rabbi Norman Lamm

 https://traditiononline.org/rabbi-emanuel-rackman-zl-a-critical-appreciation/

It was this question that applied to the Rackman efforts in relieving the plight of the agunot. It was his genuine compassion for the agunot that led him to misapply and misinterpret key elements of halakha. Thus, Rabbi Soloveitchik (“The Rav”) publicly berated him in 1975 at the annual convention of the RCA and was to an extent responsible for his failure to achieve any further promotion in communal office that might have been in store for him. Yet Rabbi Rackman acted respectfully to the Rav, who was seven years his senior, “but not by sacrificing the autonomy of my soul. I dare to differ with him—and still do to this day.”

But it was this powerful opposition by the Rav, combined with certain other considerations, that shattered Rackman’s dream to succeed the late Dr. Belkin as the next President of Yeshiva University, and which led Rabbi Rackman to turn to Israel as the President, and later Chancellor, of Bar Ilan University. These factors should not be overlooked in writing the history of those stormy days when the destiny of Y.U. was being determined.

While I personally admired the motivation of his efforts on behalf of the agunot, I was dismayed by his latest move—essentially a continuation of his position years earlier—namely, the establishment of the grandiloquently named “Rabbi Emanuel Rackman-Agunah International Beit Din L’inyanei Agunot.” As a student of the Rav, I learned from him never to allow one’s reason and logic to be overwhelmed by someone’s great reputation (a legacy of his eminent ancestor, R. Hayyim of Volozhin.) I therefore studied the situation and would not have automatically supported my Rebbe’s broadsides if I disagreed with him. But much as I held Mendy in genuine esteem, I found too many weaknesses in his argument, some startling, especially in his public actions. The people he entrusted with this new Beit Din patently were not of the level that such innovation in halakha required. The approach he innovated was to annul the marriage of the couple, thus no divorce was needed. But this was agonizingly irresponsible for a man of Rackman’s stature, for many reasons. One was that in making it so easy to break up a marriage, trivialities can knowingly or unknowingly be disguised as serious agunah situations. With the relatively easy availability of an annulment, all genuine outside help—whether by rabbis or professional counselors—may be rejected in unspoken reliance on an annulment. In a word, it makes marriage itself casual and unserious. If one were to accept fully the Rackman “solution,” it would mean that the number that had so far been “released” from unhappy marriages, would increase many times over so that there would be no reason for the whole institution of divorce, because one could easily obtain his or her freedom by applying to the Bet Din for an annulment, often when casus belli can prove to be frivolous. Much as that would be helpful to the few

agunot, it would be tragically destructive to Jewish home life for many decades to come. By making divorce superfluous, you paradoxically make marriage itself unstable and even unnecessary, as it is always accompanied by the silent prospect of an annulment at the first sign of marital discord. The marital bonds are not strong enough in our times to bear the pressure of this additional burden. No wonder that the overwhelming number of Modern Orthodox Rabbis—let alone Haredi Rabbis—will not recognize such annulments, leading to horrific consequences.

Reviving the Rackman Agunah Beit Din

 https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/reviving-the-rackman-agunah-beit-din/

Like Rabbi Rackman, I often found myself silenced at or excluded from Orthodox Jewish feminist meetings and forums. But the Dayyanim of the RBD and we of AGUNAH Int’l felt strongly that our cause was just and firmly rooted in Halachah. Furthermore, despite the scorn heaped on the RBD, agunot were voting with their feet. Though aware of the limited acceptance of RBD annulments, they kept coming for release from their dead marriages. The RBD continued to function until Rabbi Rackman’s age prevented him from continuing to lead the Beit Din.

Danger of being too lenient

R Rackman One man's Jusaism page 206 

file:///C:/Users/meide/Downloads/One-Mans-Judaism.pdf

Discussing Rav Moshe heter for a getless divorce

No evidence’ offshore wind killing whales in NJ-NY

 https://apnews.com/article/new-jersey-atlantic-city-climate-and-environment-animals-whales-e36d42d4ac6034ba65c4e1adbf95b04c

 Environmental and fishing groups said Tuesday there is “no evidence” that site preparation work for offshore wind farms in New Jersey and New York is responsible for a spate of whale deaths in the two states.

Many of New Jersey’s leading environmental groups held a press conference on the Atlantic City Boardwalk — directly in front of the local office of an offshore wind company — to support the industry, and decry what they term a false narrative that the industry’s testing activities are harming or killing whales.

Climate Deniers Exploit Endangered Whales In Bid To Kill Offshore Wind

 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/climate-denial-groups-right-whales-offshore-wind_n_637cf120e4b0e771d958c954#:~:text=Some%20of%20the%20nation%27s%20most,development%20along%20the%20East%20Coast.

A coalition of fossil fuel-allied groups is fighting offshore wind with shameless hypocrisy, muddled messaging and greenwashing.

Fact-checking Donald Trump's claim that wind turbines kill whales

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66928305

There is no evidence to back Mr Trump's suggestion that offshore wind turbines are killing whales.

NOAA says there are "no known links" between recent large whale mortality rates and offshore wind surveys. But that doesn't mean building windfarms comes at no cost for natural habitats.

Five key takeaways from Donald Trump’s financial fraud case ruling

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/26/donald-trump-new-york-financial-fraud-key-takeaways

A New York judge ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump committed financial fraud by overstating the value of his assets to broker deals and obtain financing.

Judge Arthur Engoron ruled Tuesday that the former president and his company deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.

The ruling is an acceleration of the case the New York attorney general Letitia James has been building against Trump since 2019, that the former president fudged financial statements and inflated his net worth up to $2.2bn more than the actual figure.

In a dramatic step just days before the trial is set to start, New York supreme court justice Arthur Engoron issued a partial ruling largely agreeing with James. He also ordered the cancellation of New York business certificates of all companies related to Trump and his two sons, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, making it difficult for Trump to continue running his real estate business in the state.

New York judge rules Trump committed fraud while building real estate empire

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-york-judge-rules-trump-judge-rules-trump-committed-fraud-while-building-real-estate-empire

A judge ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump and his company committed fraud while building his real estate empire after New York Attorney General Letitia James accused the former president of overvaluing his assets.

Minyan with a child as 1oth man

 Igros Moshe OC2 18 says a child can be counted as the tenth man in an emergency situation

This heter seems to contradict the majority of poskim as found in Mishna Berura 55 4

There is no claim that this is Daas Totah. 

BEWARE OF ASKANIM THAT ASK FOR MONEY TO HELP

RavYakov Hillel warns against mekubalim who ask for money for their services

Similarly I have been told horror stories regarding askanim who target vulnerable people involved in divorce, or custody issues, conversion or medical issues.

Before giving money ask a second opinion

Often these askanim are charging for services that are free or are impervious to monetary influence or they simply take money and do nothing.

Turn the other cheek is a Jewish principle?

 Eicha (3:30)

יִתֵּ֧ן לְמַכֵּ֛הוּ לֶ֖חִי יִשְׂבַּ֥ע בְּחֶרְפָּֽה׃ {ס}  

Let him offer his cheek to the smiter;

Let him be surfeited with mockery.

Ben Yehoyada on Sanhedrin 91a:2

אָמַר לֵיהּ: אִם אַתָּה עוֹשֶׂה כֵּן, רוֹפֵא אֻמָּן תִּקָּרֵא, וְשָׂכָר הַרְבֵּה תִּטֹּל. נראה לי בס"ד על דרך מה שאמר הכתוב יִתֵּן לְמַכֵּהוּ לֶחִי יִשְׂבַּע בְּחֶרְפָּה (איכה ג, ל) וכתבו המפרשים ז"ל הכונה שלפעמים ימצא פוגע עכו"ם בישראל וסוטרו על לחייו, הנה כל זה נעשה לטובת ישראל והיינו שהיה באותו ישראל חלק רע הראוי לאותו עכו"ם והיה באותו עכו"ם חלק טוב שהוא ראוי לאותו ישראל ובאותה הכאה שסוטרו על לחייו יוצא אותו חלק הרע מישראל ונכנס בעכו"ם ויוצא חלק הטוב מן עכו"ם ונכנס באותו ישראל. וזהו שנאמר יִתֵּן הישראל לְמַכֵּהוּ זה העכו"ם לֶחִי לסוטרו אז אותו העכו"ם יִשְׂבַּע בְּחֶרְפָּה שיקבל חלק הרע מישראל ויוצא ממנו חלק טוב ונמצא הוא שבע בחרפה הוא הרע וכנזכר בגורי האר"י ז"ל.

וכן כאן אותו המין אמר דברים להלעיג ואך גְבִיהָה השיא דברי המין לענין אחר שהוא דבר טוב והגון ונכון והוא אחר שאמר לו 'בָּעִיטְנָא בָּךְ וּפַשִׁיטְנָא לְעַקְמוּתָךְ' אמר לו גביהה אם זאת הבעיטה תועיל שתפשיט בה עקמימותי שהם הסיגים של הנפש על דרך שאמר הכתוב 'יִתֵּן לְמַכֵּהוּ לֶחִי יִשְׂבַּע בְּחֶרְפָּה' הנה בודאי 'רוֹפֵא אֻמָּן תִּקָּרֵא' כי דרך הרופאים להסיר החולי מן האדם במשך כמה ימים לאט לאט ואם יזדמן רופא שיסיר החולי בשעה אחת לזה קורין אותו 'רוֹפֵא אֻמָּן' וכן האדם מסיר חולי הנפש מתיכו לאט לאט על ידי מצות ומעשים טובים במשך ימים רבים ואתה אם תסיר על ידי הבעיטה עקמימות הנפש בשעה אחת קלה תקרא 'רוֹפֵא אֻמָּן' ולכן אף על פי שאתה בועט בי ומצער אותי 'שָׂכָר הַרְבֵּה תִּטֹּל' ממני.

Rosh Hashanna Significance?

 Why is there no section about Rosh Hashanna in the Mishna Torah and why doesn't the Torah mention the obligation of repentance  but only  mentions the mitzvah of shofar?

why doesn't the Rambam count Tshuva as a mitzva?

why is there a debate about the significance of Rosh Hashanna in the gemora 17b

Gemar Chasima Tova!