A recent graduate of the Yeshivat Maharat Orthodox egalitarian rabbinical school in New York has been banned from teaching at the London School of Jewish Studies (LSJS), whose president is UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.
The disqualification of Dr. Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz, who has won praise across religious denominations for pursuing her rabbinic studies, brings to the fore an ongoing controversy about Orthodox semicha, or rabbinical ordination, for women.
An increasing number of those in the Modern Orthodox community would like to see recognition of women rabbis, while those on the religious right continue to maintain that it is against tradition. At the same time, the coronavirus pandemic has tempted some Modern Orthodox Jews to join Progressive congregations that offer options such as Zoom services on Shabbat — something prohibited by Orthodox law.
Okay, while I oppose the whole YCT innovation thing, one has to ask: what does her so-called semicha have to do with the job she was doing? Was she presenting herself to her students as a valid rabbi or was this something she did while pursuing other interests?
ReplyDeleteLsjs is the contiuation of Jew's college. At the previous establishment, a manchester /gateshead musmach od rav dessler was teaching. He started writing about documentary hypothesis. He was potentially a Chief rabbi, but his views were heretical ß and he got booted out.
ReplyDeletePerhaps some might see it as complicit endorsement..
ReplyDeleteDaf Hayomi Yoma Chapter 7 Yoma 69a
ReplyDelete“Come and hear: As to priestly garments, it is forbidden to go out in them in the province [i.e., outside the Temple], but in the Sanctuary whether during or outside the time of the service, it is permitted to wear them, because priestly garments are permitted for private use. This is conclusive. But in the province [it is] not [permitted]? Surely it was taught: The twenty-fifth of Tebeth is the day of Mount Gerizim [on which the Samaritans (Cutheans) had their Temple], on which no mourning is permitted. It is the day on which the Cutheans demanded the House of our God from Alexander the Macedonian so as to destroy it, and he had given them the permission, whereupon some people came and informed Simeon the Just [one of the surviving members of the Great Synod, v. Aboth, Sonc. ed., p. 2, n. 1.]. What did the latter do? He put on his priestly garments, robed himself in priestly garments, some of the noblemen of Israel went with him carrying fiery torches in their hands, they walked all the night, some walking on one side and others on the other side, until the dawn rose. When the dawn rose he [Alexander] said to them: Who are these [the Samaritans]? They answered: The Jews who rebelled against you. As he reached Antipatris [Antipatris, in Judah, on the way from Jerusalem to Caesarea, was built by King Herod and called after his father, Antipater], the sun having shone forth, they met. When he saw Simeon the Just, he descended from his carriage and bowed down before him. They said to him: A great king like yourself should bow down before this Jew? He answered: His image it is which wins for me in all my battles. He said to them: What have you come for? They said: Is it possible that star-worshippers should mislead you to destroy the House wherein prayers are said for you and your kingdom that it be never destroyed! He said to them: Who are these? They said to him: These are Cutheans who stand before you. He said: They are delivered into your hand.”
Beautiful. What a story. Alexander the Great bows before שמעון הצדיק! Thank you God in Heaven. Today, in Israel, we have so many trying to destroy us. In this week’s parsha בלק God helped us: “But the Lord your God refused to heed Balaam; instead the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, for the Lord your God loves you.” (Deuteronomy 23:6).
Simeon the Righteous is either Simon I (310–291 or 300–273 BCE), son of Onias I, and grandson of Jaddua, or Simon II (219–199 BCE), son of Onias II. Many statements concerning him are variously ascribed by scholars, ancient and modern, to four different persons who bore the same name: Simeon I (by Fränkel and Grätz); Simeon II (by Krochmal in the 18th century, Brüll in the 19th, and Moore and Zeitlin in the 20th); Simon Maccabeus (by Löw); or Simeon the son of Gamaliel (by Weiss). The scholarly consensus of the late 20th century has fallen on Simon II.
ReplyDeleteAlexander III of Macedon (Greek: Αλέξανδρος, Aléxandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon.[
If these dates are correct, they were never able to have met.
KA says “If these dates are correct, they were never able to have met” referring to Alexander the Great and שמעון הצדיק. No. Allow me to quote from the siddur:
ReplyDeleteוַאֲנַחְנוּ לֹא נֵדַע מַה נַּעֲשֶׂה. כִּי עָלֶיךָ עֵינֵינוּ:
זְכֹר רַחֲמֶיךָ יְקוָק וַחֲסָדֶיךָ. כִּי מֵעוֹלָם הֵמָּה:
יְהִי חַסְדְּךָ יְקוָק עָלֵינוּ. כַּאֲשֶׁר יִחַלְנוּ לָךְ:
אַל תִּזְכָּר לָנוּ עֲוֹנוֹת רִאשׁוֹנִים. מַהֵר יְקַדְּמוּנוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ. כִּי דַלּוֹנוּ מְאֹד:
חָנֵּנוּ יְקוָק חָנֵּנוּ. כִּי רַב שָׂבַעְנוּ בוּז:
בְּרֹגֶז רַחֵם תִּזְכּוֹר. כִּי הוּא יָדַע יִצְרֵנוּ. זָכוּר כִּי עָפָר אֲנָחְנוּ:
עָזְרֵנוּ אֱלֹקֵי יִשְׁעֵנוּ עַל דְּבַר כְּבוֹד שְׁמֶךָ. וְהַצִּילֵנוּ וְכַפֵּר עַל חַטֹּאתֵינוּ לְמַעַן שְׁמֶךָ:
“Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, at the front of the new court. He said: Lord, God of fathers truly You are the God in heaven and You rule over the kingdoms of the nations; power and strength are Yours; none can oppose You. O our God, You dispossessed the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and You gave it to the descendants of Your friend Abraham forever. They settled in it and built for You a House for Your name. They said should misfortune befall us אם תבוא עלינו רעה---the punishing sword חרב שפוט, pestilence, or famine, we shall stand before this House and before You—for Your name is in this House—and we shall cry out to You in our distress, and You will listen and deliver us. Now, the people of Ammon, Moab and the hill country of Seir, into whose [land] You did not let Israel come when they came from Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and did not wipe them out כי סרו מעליהם ולא השמידום, these now repay us by coming to expel us from Your possession, which You gave us as ours. O our God, surely You will punish them הלא תשפו בם, for we are powerless before this great multitude that has come against us and do not know what to do; but our eyes are on You ואנחנו לא נדע מה נעשה כי עליך עינינו.”(2 Chronicles 20:5-12)
KA, are you a troll? Internet slang, a troll is a person who posts inflammatory, insincere, digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog), with the intent of provoking readers into displaying emotional responses, or manipulating their...
And therefore?
ReplyDeletetherefore - either the dates of historians are wrong, and they did meet,
ReplyDeleteor it was another person either named Alexander or connected to him
And how is your comment relevant to post?
ReplyDeleteOr are you simply interested in writing a guest post on your topic?
It's relevant to the comment I replied to. It mentions the meeting between Alexander and Shimon. There are 4 possible candidates for Shimon.
ReplyDeleteSuch a meeting did take place - the aggadah must contain a deeper meaning, beyond historic accuracy
From the article:
ReplyDelete“It was clear that a continued formal affiliation with a person who, while having contributed a great deal to the institution, had nonetheless stepped beyond the boundaries of mainstream Orthodoxy… would have sent a misleading message about what LSJS stands for — a message which would have compromised its longstanding commitment to Orthodox Jewish education and training, the consequences of which could have been significant and far-reaching for LSJS,” the statement said.
“It was clear that a continued formal affiliation with a person who, while having contributed a great deal to the institution, had nonetheless stepped beyond the boundaries of mainstream Orthodoxy… would have sent a misleading message about what LSJS stands for — a message which would have compromised its longstanding commitment to Orthodox Jewish education and training, the consequences of which could have been significant and far-reaching for LSJS,” the statement said.