National Scholar Updates

Israel’s new political reality—with the two main Ultra-Orthodox or Haredi political parties, the Sephardic-based Shas party and the Ashkenazi-based United Torah Judaism, inside the government won’t help the next generation of Haredi young people—in fact, on the contrary, it will perpetuate a broken system. While Shas and United Torah Judaism have negotiated financial windfalls for their constituencies, as well as a pull-back on the demand that Ultra-Orthodox young men serve in the Israeli Defense Force, this old style of conducting business could be harmful to our community’s young people. That’s because the reality is that education—not political power--is the key to the future for the Haredi community in Israel, especially if the government doesn’t put advancing Haredim through education and employment at the core of the agenda.

“Educate each child according to his own path,” the Book of Proverbs teaches us, “and he will not stray from it, even when he is old.” And yet, when it comes to educating Haredi youth in Israel, we still have much to learn. Quite honestly, there is nothing short of an education crisis in our community. Rather than providing real choices, our leaders have traditionally insisted that Haredi students have only one path: a formal, rote curriculum dominated by intensive Talmud study, with no option for students to take general studies or complete an Israeli matriculation certificate. This is the path that is likely to dominate the agenda right now—and it is not the path that our young people need or deserve.

The reality is that in the absence of a meaningful alternative, nearly a third of Haredi teenage boys will continue to become alienated from both mainstream Israeli society and the traditional ways of their community. Many drop out of school, spend their time on the streets, or are lost to the Haredi community altogether. They are unable to build families and successful lives.

Those yeshivas that do offer secular matriculation (and there are only a handful in the entire country) are far too expensive for most Haredi families to afford.

By creating Hachmey Lev Yeshiva High School, my aim is to do nothing short of transforming the Yeshiva model. We offer teens who are under stimulated in classical Yeshiva settings the opportunity to maximize their social, educational, and cognitive potential all while still maintaining a Haredi lifestyle. We are teaching the boys Gemara at the highest standards, in Hebrew and without compromise, and to live a Haredi lifestyle that will also allow them to earn a good living for themselves and their future families.

I was inspired to create Hachmay Lev based on my own family’s experience when our son reached seventh grade and boredom got the better of him. He showed little interest in his traditional yeshiva schooling. As a product of this schooling myself, I know the value of its rigor, but this model simply is outmoded for today’s young people.

Our students combine study of Talmud (32 hours each week) and general studies (20 hours each week), giving them a broader education than any other Haredi institutions in Israel. They study the core curriculum like English, math, history, Bible, civics, computer science, and Hebrew, while also enjoying music and sports. Students sleep in Jerusalem during the week and return home on weekends. Once the model has been fine-tuned, Hachmey Lev will be replicated in other locations across Israel.

I spent ten years putting Haredim into the workforce and that’s why I know that education is the core issue. After spending a lifetime of activism in the Haredi community on a variety of pressing issues, including making sure that our men serve in the IDF, and find gainful employment, I am convinced that unless and until we transform our educational system, there will simply never be the systemic change that we need.

North American and British donors know the necessity of getting the 20% of Israeli society that is Haredi into the workforce—and are supporting efforts to increase employment opportunities in the Haredi community, so that our young people can have new models to emulate. Philanthropists outside of Israel also know that Israel is the global exception, since nowhere else in the world are young people exempt from learning a broad range of studies or from working. But, money for employment without strengthening and expanding serious alternative educational models won’t create the type of workers for a 21st century workforce that Israel needs.

Philanthropists who want to impact the Israeli economy need to invest in educational models that will recast the pattern of poverty in our community. Now, more than ever, those of us who trying to change Haredi society from within need to show that our model can work for a broader segment of our community.

www.kidum-edu.org.il/en/education-campuses/hachmey-lev-yeshiva-high-school

To our members and friends: I extend best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year. Shalom al Yisrael, and shalom on all good people everywhere who promote peace and understanding.

With the holiday season approaching, we consider new beginnings. The newly created position of National Scholar enables the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals to bring classes and special programs to communities, college campuses, and the wider public through publications and the internet. Response thus far from Institute members and from the communities I have visited has been most gratifying. There is a deeply felt sense that the vision represented by our Institute is relevant and necessary for the spiritual health and growth of the Jewish community.

Thank you to those who support the work of the Institute—we are spreading our wings more than ever before and can do so because of the community-wide support of our members. Here is what is coming up for the fall: · We are nearing the final editing stage of a Synagogue Companion with commentary on the Torah, Haftarot, and the Shabbat morning prayer service. This volume will contain short pieces—generally 300-500 words each, to deliver meaningful content to people of all backgrounds.

The Institute will publish this volume in January 2014, and will distribute it to Institute members and to synagogues across the country. If you are interested in contributing toward the publication of this volume, please contact me no later than October 1 for co-sponsorship and dedication opportunities. [email protected]. ·

One of my major projects over the summer has been the development of a lecture series on the religious philosophy of our Institute. Through a series of lectures in Manhattan (we are currently working on time and location, and will let you know), and a number of lectures elsewhere, we will explore several central topics that impact on contemporary Jewish life. Our goal is to create a faithful, expansive worldview that incorporates great rabbinic voices from throughout history and from all over the Jewish world. This series, along with my ongoing teaching of Bible, will play a major role in my teaching in Manhattan and in different communities and campuses throughout the country over the next couple of years.

Here are some upcoming lectures that I will be giving. They are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. ·

Stanley Rudoff Memorial Lecture at the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education (37 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan), “Introduction to Kohelet: confronting religious challenges.” Tuesday, September 10, 7:30-9:00 pm. ·

Lecture for a Book Reception for a new commentary by Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik on the Torah: Chumash Mesorat HaRav: Chumash with Commentary Based on the Teachings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. This project was sponsored by pillars of our Institute, Stephen and Nataly Neuwirth. The event will be held at the Young Israel of New Rochelle, Sunday October 6, 9:30 am. Books will be available for purchase. ·

Queens College Annual Sephardic Lecture, “A Sephardic Approach to Tradition and Modernity: Its Value to Us All,” Wednesday October 9, 7:30-8:30 pm.

Sponsored by our member, Mrs. Elsi Levy. · Scholar-in-Residence, Congregation Chovevei Tzion in Chicago, Shabbat December 6-7. This weekend will combine themes in Bible and a Sephardic philosophy. Reservations are through Cong. Chovevei Tzion. ·

Weekly classes in the Book of Judges at Lincoln Square Synagogue (68th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan).

Wednesdays from 7:15-8:15 pm from October 16-December 18 (except for November 27). There are sponsorship opportunities available (suggested sponsorship: $360). For more information contact Ms. Elana Stein-Hain, [email protected]. ·

A course on “How to Teach Bible in Synagogues” to the Graduate Program for Women in Advanced Talmudic Study at Stern College for Women (Yeshiva University). The goal is to train these elite students how to serve more effectively as scholars-in-residence or as future synagogue professionals. This is for students in the Graduate Program only.

Here are several other projects that I've been working on: ·

Reprinting my first collection of biblical studies, Through an Opaque Lens, as an electronic book (with Kodesh Press). The goal is to bring this project to fruition and then do the same for the next two collections, Revealed Texts, Hidden Meanings and Creating Space between Peshat and Derash. ·

Working with the Aleph Beta Academy (alephbeta.org) to develop online classes that survey the Bible.

Thank you for your support and encouragement, and I look forward to building this vision with you and the broader community in the coming year and beyond. Shanah tovah.

I welcome your ideas and suggestions. Please feel free to contact me at [email protected]. To join the Institute, to contribute, or to learn more about our work, please go to our website, www.jewishideas.org.

Hayyim Angel

National Scholar, Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals

Maimonides (d. 1204) tolerated no idea that failed the test of reason. An ancient and robust tradition of superstition among the Jews did not deter him. Maimonides either ignored or rationalized scores of Talmudic halachot based on astrology, demonology, and magic.

Maimonides denounced astrology passionately, despite its popularity, calling the belief “stupidity” and its practitioners “fools.” His argument bears emphasis: Maimonides opposed astrology primarily on scientific rather than religious grounds. The Torah prohibits divination from the sky, he ruled, not because it displays a lack of faith in God, but simply because it is false.

But Nahmanides (d. 1270), pointing to Talmudic sources and consistent with his intellectual milieu, wrote a correspondent that it would be halachically unacceptable to ignore an inauspicious horoscope, because “one should not rely on miracles.”

Though a student of Kabbalah, Nahmanides also worked within the framework of Aristotelian philosophy. He was no anti-rationalist. He was worlds apart from today’s magic-remedy-dispensing “mekubalim” (miracle workers).

Medieval philosophers relied on reason to explain nature, but reason had practical limitations. Even the most confident rationalist could not explain all natural phenomena. Philosophers were forced to distinguish between “manifest” qualities — clearly understood properties such as size, shape, and color — and an “occult” or hidden property unique to a particular object (“segula” in medieval philosophical Hebrew).
The attractive force of the lodestone, a naturally occurring magnet, was the most commonly cited example of an occult quality.

The ancients knew that a magnet draws iron, but the cause of the attraction eluded explanation. Medieval scholastics viewed such “action at a distance” as an occult property; no manifest quality of the lodestone could explain its power. Likewise, the stars and planets were thought to influence the daily affairs of human life by means of emanations penetrating the cosmos — an even more impressive example of action at a distance.

Occult remedies were a problem for halachists and Jewish philosophers. The issue came into sharp focus in the early fourteenth century, during the Maimonidean Controversy.

Rabbi Shlomo Ben Aderet (“Rashba,” d. 1310), a student of Nahmanides, played a major role in this episode. Like many of his contemporaries, Rashba revered both Maimonides and Nahmanides.

Rashba was asked for his decision: Was it permissible to use a medallion engraved with the image of a lion — after the zodiac constellation Leo — to treat kidney stones? (Ironically, the radical Maimonidean rationalists were using this talisman; the anti-Maimonideans objected).

Rashba deliberates carefully, and takes great pains to address Maimonides’ broad prohibition of magic. He notes that Maimonides himself, following the Talmud, allowed for an exception: He permitted any empirically effective remedy, even if it was poorly understood and attributed to an occult virtue. Does this exception, Rashba wonders, cover the Leo medallion?

Rashba ultimately allows the practice. He skillfully argues that the medallion’s healing property, though occult, is as natural as magnetism (the following is the earliest description of a magnetic compass in Hebrew literature):

“Consider the occult property of the magnet, at which iron leaps, and furthermore, the common practice of sailors: They insert a needle into a floating piece of wood and magnetize the needle, which navigates on the water’s surface until it points to the pole. Not a single philosopher comprehends this in terms of natural philosophy. Likewise, all occult properties are natural — in the manner of drugs and herbs — and include no element of paganism.”

This chapter in the history of three intersecting fields — philosophy, science, and halacha — remains relevant today. How should a modern traditional Jew respond to magical cures, astrology, and the variety of “segulot” (talismans, in its current usage) increasingly promoted by Jewish charismatics?

We may be tempted to fall back on the old debate between Maimonides and Nahmanides and decline to take a stand. It would be presumptuous, so the argument goes, to come down on either side.

But there is a better approach, which takes historical context into account. An example from another area of halacha may help disentangle the issue.

Centuries ago, several prominent halachists permitted smoking on non-Sabbath holidays, based on its presumed health benefits. The rationale was that smoking fell into the halachic category of kindling for a universally appreciated pleasure (e.g., a healthful activity), which is permitted on holidays.

No halachist today would tout the health benefits of smoking simply because this (erroneous) idea is part of the halachic record. Thankfully, scientific progress makes such a prospect laughable.

Needless to say, science has evolved considerably since the fourteenth century: The Renaissance, Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, and the Enlightenment; not to mention Darwin and Einstein.

We have known for some time that magnetism is not an occult force. We also know that astrology is a pseudo-scientific fantasy (on this score, Maimonides was far ahead of his time). Much of what was fact to the medievals may be of interest to historians of science, but is no longer scientific reality.

Nahmanides and Rashba were no fools. If they were active today, they no doubt would mock practitioners of magical cures and those who would read fortunes from molten lead or coffee grinds. Maimonides likewise would abandon his own outdated science.
On scientific questions, religion must follow the very latest science. To settle for anything less is to invite a return to a darker, occult age.

National Scholar One Year Report June 1, 2013—May 31, 2014

Rabbi Hayyim Angel National Scholar, Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals [email protected] jewishideas.org

To our members and friends, I am pleased to report that I now have completed the first year of working as the National Scholar of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals. We have hit the ground running, and it has been an honor and privilege working to promote our vision nationwide primarily through teaching, and also through writing and creating internet classes.This report summarizes my various projects and activities over the past year.

Overall, I gave over 220 classes, spoke in dozens of communities and campuses, published four books (including two through the Institute), and created a series of online classes. I thank the supporters of the Institute, as well as all of the interested communities and campuses, for making this explosion of learning possible.

The major areas of focus are:

• University Students:

o Teaching four courses per semester to undergraduates at Yeshiva University forms the heart of this educational element. Many of my students have gone on to rabbinical school, graduate school in Jewish Studies, and careers in the rabbinate and in Jewish education, and many others form the lay backbone of communities nationwide and in Israel. I remain in touch with a sizable number of former students. More significantly, a growing number of rabbis and educators who were not my students have found an address for their questions at the Institute.

o In conjunction with our University Network, I have given classes at Columbia University, New York University,University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Brandeis University, and University of Chicago. It has been a valuable experience learning together with students on various campuses, exchanging ideas, and connecting them with our vision.

• Community Education:

o There is a serious thirst for the kind of learning represented by our Institute, and a sizable number of communities have invited us. Through a combination of scholar-in-residence programs and lectures in different communities, we reached thousands of interested adults directly in the past year.

o I have developed a series of lectures on the worldview of our Institute. This past year I gave several individual lectures in different communities, and look forward to offering a full series in the New York area in the coming year.

• Teacher Training:

o One of our central goals is to train other rabbis, community leaders, and educators to spread Torah to schools and communities. In this manner we create bridges with many people in the field to work together. o Last year I taught a year-long course in “How to Teach Bible in Synagogues” to honors rabbinical students at Yeshiva University. This past year I taught a one-semester version to the women in the Graduate Program for Advanced Talmudic Studies at Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University.

o I participate annually as faculty in Yeshiva University’s graduate program in Experiential Education. o I taught a course to rabbinical students at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School in Riverdale, NY, with an emphasis on both content and methodology.

o I gave teacher-training seminars to Bible faculties at the Ida Crown Academy (Chicago) and the Ramaz High School (New York). Given the complexities of Bible and Jewish Studies our graduates are likely to encounter on secular university campuses, our training focuses on how to equip Jewish Studies high school faculties to prepare their students for the University setting.

• Internet Learning: o We have created an Online Learning section on the Institute’s website, jewishideas.org. You can find links to a growing number of classes of mine there.

o I have developed a new kind of onlinevideo class with the Aleph Beta Academy (alephbeta.org). Thus far my classes on the Books of Joshua, Judges, Lamentations, and Esther are online, Samuel and Kings are in process, and more is yet to come.

• Publications:

o The Institute published my Synagogue Companion this past January. It was distributed to Institute members and interested synagogues, educators, and laypeople across the country. This volume makes accessible comments on the Torah, Haftarot, and Shabbat morning prayers. Additional copies are available at the Institute online store and at amazon.com.

o I published a revised second edition of my first collection of essays on Bible, Through an Opaque Lens. It is available at amazon.com.

o I published a new collection of essays on Bible with a focus on methodology, Peshat Isn’t So Simple. It is available at amazon.com.

o I am in the editing stages of a Jewish Holiday Companion that will be published through the Institute. It contains commentary on the holidays and their major themes and readings.

Below is an itemized listing of the various classes and programs over the past year, as well as some upcoming highlights.

• May 31-June 1: Scholar-in-residence, Young Israel of Jamaica Estates, Queens, NY.

• June 10: Teachers’ in-service at the Ida Crown Jewish Academy (High School) in Chicago.

• June 21-22: Scholar-in-residence, Young Israel of Stamford, Connecticut.

• June 26 Lecture in the Experiential Education program by Yeshiva University, “Teaching the Book of Job.”

• July 19-20: Scholar-in-residence, Mashadi Persian community in Great Neck, NY. • July 26-27 Scholar-in-residence, Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan.

• August 16-17 Scholar-in-residence, Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan.

• September 10: Stanley Rudoff Memorial Lecture at the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education: “Introduction to Kohelet: confronting religious challenges.”

• October 6: Speaker at Book Reception for new commentary by Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik: Chumash Mesorat HaRav: Chumash with Commentary Based on the Teachings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Young Israel of New Rochelle.

• October 9: Queens College Annual Sephardic Lecture, “A Sephardic Approach to Tradition and Modernity.”

• Oct 13, 20, 27:Young Israel of Jamaica Estates. Three-part series on Biblical Wisdom (Proverbs, Job, Kohelet).

• October 27:Columbia-Barnard Hillel/Institute University Network. “Learning Faith from the Text, or Text from Faith: The Challenges of Teaching and Learning the Avraham Narratives and Commentary.”

• November 17:Young Israel of Jamaica Estates, “The Books of the Maccabees and Rabbinic Thought: Getting to the Roots of Hanukkah.”

• November 21: Teacher training session, Ramaz Bible faculty, New York.

• November 25: Lecture at New York University, “Orthodoxy and Confrontation with Modern Bible Criticism.”

• October 16-December 18: Nine-part series on the Book of Judges at Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan.

• October 2-December 11: An eight-part course on “How to Teach Bible in Synagogues” to the Graduate Program for Women in Advanced Talmudic Study at Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University.

• December 8: Lecture at University of Pennsylvania, “The Book of Chronicles: a window into how the Bible was written.”

• Shabbat December 13-14: Scholar-in-Residence, Congregation Chovevei Tzion in Chicago.

• January 2: Teacher training session, Ramaz Bible faculty, New York.

• Shabbat January 3-4:Scholar-in-Residence, Congregation Keter Torah (Roemer) in Bergenfield, New Jersey.

• January 13: A class on Megillat Esther, at the Yemei Iyyun of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School in Riverdale, New York.

• January 29-April 2: Ten-part series on the First Book of Samuel at Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan.

• Shabbat February 7-8:Scholar-in-Residence, Yeshiva University.

• Shabbat Feburary 15: Scholar-in-Residence, Congregation Ohab Shalom in Manhattan.

• Shabbat February 28-March 1: Scholar-in-Residence, Cornell University.

• Shabbat March 7-8: Scholar-in-Residence, Congregation Shaarei Orah in Teaneck. This was a Sephardic-themed Shabbat, and lectures throughout the weekend focused on great Sephardic thinkers and ideas that are good for all Jews.

• Thursday March 20: Book Reception for my books: Vision from the Prophet and Counsel from the Elders, and A Synagogue Companion.

• March: Four-part series in the Book of Jeremiah at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School.

• May-June: Seven-part series on the Book of Samuel at Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan. Coming attractions include:

• Shavuot, June 3-5: Scholar-in-residence, Young Israel of West Hartford, Connecticut.

• Monday, June 16, 7:30 pm: Book Launch for my just-published book, Peshat Isn’t So Simple. At Lincoln Square Synagogue, 68th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan. Free and open to the public. Copies of the book will be available at a discounted price.

• Shabbat, June 20-21: Scholar-in-residence, Young Israel of Oceanside.

• Tuesday, June 24: Lecture on the Book of Job, Yeshiva University Graduate Program in Experiential Education (open only to participants in their program).

• Sunday June 29-Monday June 30: Three lectures on Tanakh at the yemei iyyun of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, held this year at Manhattan Day School, 310 West 75th Street in Manhattan. Registration forms and more information at http://www.yctorah.org/content/view/895/17/ All are welcome.

• Wednesdays in July: Five-part series on the Haftarot for Lamdeinu. The classes will be held at Congregation Beth Aaron, 950 Queen Anne Road. The course costs $75 and is open to the entire community. For more information and other offerings, please contact [email protected].

Thank you all for your support and enthusiasm, and I look forward to promoting our Torah vision for many years to come.

Rabbi Hayyim Angel

National Scholar Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals

September, 2014

To our members and friends, As we approach the New Year, we look forward to another robust season of educational programming. Here are some of the major highlights thus far in place, and more will continue to develop throughout the year. I will be the Rabbinic Scholar at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in New York City (85th Street between Park and Lexington Avenue) for the coming year. This will involve eight Shabbatot in the KJ community, as well as High Holy Day sermons to their Sephardic minyan on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.

This coming Shabbat, September 20, I will speak on Sephardic and Ashkenazic Liturgy. That will take place around 11:00 am after services at the Sephardic minyan. All are welcome.

KJ Shabbat dates: October 18 December 20 (Hanukkah) January 17 February 21 March 7 May 9 June 6

After the holiday season, I am excited to offer a brand-new eight-part series, entitled Creating Jewish Unity. This course, sponsored by our Institute, outlines some of the most important areas of developing a religious worldview that is authentic to Jewish tradition, reasonable, and relevant to life in the 21st century. A wide range of opinions is considered, seeking those approaches that best address our complex contemporary reality. These classes present some of the core values of our Institute. It will be held on Tuesday mornings, from 8:40-9:30 am, at the Apple Bank on 73rd Street and Broadway in Manhattan.

Creating Jewish Unity Dates: October 21, 28, November 4, 18, 25 (not Nov 11, Veterans Day) December 2, 9, 16 ADVANCE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED: if you wish to attend, please let us know by emailing [email protected] We also will continue with our in-depth Tanakh learning at Lincoln Square Synagogue (68th Street and Amsterdam in Manhattan). This year we are learning the Second Book of Samuel. These classes will be on Wednesday evenings, 7:15-8:15.

Second Samuel fall dates (eight sessions): October 22, 29 November 5, 12, 19 (not 26, Thanksgiving weekend) December 3, 10, 17 These classes are co-sponsored by our Institute and Lincoln Square Synagogue. For registration information, please go to lss.org. In addition to these regular offerings, I will be a scholar-in-residence at Anshei Sphard Beth El Emeth in Memphis, Tennessee; Beth Israel Abraham and Voliner in Overland Park, Kansas; Young Israel of Woodmere-Cedarhurst; Ahavath Torah in Englewood, New Jersey; Young Israel of Century City, in Los Angeles; and a four-part series for Lamdeinu, Teaneck New Jersey. Details to follow as these events get closer.

Finally, we are putting the finishing touches on my upcoming book, A Jewish Holiday Companion. This book, a sequel to my Synagogue Companion, will be published in November by our Institute. I am deeply grateful to the book’s co-sponsors, who made this project possible. They will all be thanked on a dedication page and in the introduction. The books will be distributed to members of our Institute, and will also be available at amazon.com.

As always, I thank our members and friends for their support and for enabling us to spread our Institute’s vision through teaching and writings throughout the country and beyond.

I wish you all a Shanah Tovah, a year of peace for us all, Israel, and the world.

November, 2013

To our members and friends: It is so inspiring to feel the excitement for learning I have encountered wherever I have been teaching. There is a palpable thirst in our community for Torah that combines tradition and contemporary scholarship; an open intellectual-textual approach that simultaneously inspires and elevates. These classes lie at the heart of our goals of the Institute, and we are grateful for the widespread positive response and support we have been receiving. Thank you for being part of our vision, and making this possible.

Here are some current highlights and upcoming classes:

· We have created a new area on our website, jewishideas.org, Online Learning. On this page you can find a list of links to online classes I have given. We expect this area to grow rapidly as we offer new classes through the Institute. Please join in on the Torah learning at jewishideas.org.

· The Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals is co-sponsoring a nine-part series of weekly classes with Lincoln Square Synagogue in the Book of Judges (68th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan). The classes are taught at a high level and accessible to people of all learning backgrounds. Wednesdays from 7:15-8:15 pm from October 16-December 18 (except November 27). Classes are free and open to the public. Although the course has begun all are welcome to join as each lecture stands on its own.

As a sequel to this course, I will be giving a ten-part series on the First Book of Samuel on Wednesday evenings at Lincoln Square Synagogue from January 29-April 2.

· On Sunday, November 17, 7:30-8:30 pm, I will give a lecture at the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates, Queens: “The Books of the Maccabees and Rabbinic Thought: Getting to the Roots of Hanukkah.” The class is free and open to the public.

· On Monday, November 25: I am lecturing to students at the New York University Hillel, in conjunction with our University Network program.

· I am teaching a course this fall semester on “How to Teach Bible in Synagogues” to the Graduate Program for Women in Advanced Talmudic Study at Stern College for Women (Yeshiva University). The goal is to train these elite future educators how to serve more effectively as scholars-in-residence or as future synagogue professionals. This is open to students in the Graduate Program only.

· I am teaching four undergraduate courses at Yeshiva University: Judges, Prophecies of Consolation (an Honors course), and two sections of Trei Asar (the “Minor Prophets”). Here are some other projects I have been working on:

· Development of a lecture series on the religious philosophy of our Institute. Through a series of lectures in Manhattan (we are close to determining time and location, and will let you know as soon as we do), and a number of lectures elsewhere, we will explore several central topics that impact on contemporary Jewish life. Our goal is to create a faithful, expansive worldview that incorporates great rabbinic voices from all over the Jewish world. This series, along with my teaching of Bible, will play a major role in different communities and campuses throughout the country over the next few years.

· I have prepared a Synagogue Companion with commentary on the Torah, Haftarot, and the Shabbat morning prayer service. This volume will contain short pieces—generally 300-500 words each, to deliver meaningful content to people of all backgrounds. The Institute will publish this volume in January 2014, and will distribute it to Institute members and to synagogues across the country.

· I just published a revised version of my first collection of biblical studies, Through an Opaque Lens: The Bible Refracted through Eternal Rabbinic Wisdom, as an electronic book and as a paperback on demand. Both versions are available from amazon.com.

· I am working with the Aleph Beta Academy (alephbeta.org) to develop online classes that survey the Bible. Thus far my classes on the Books of Joshua and Lamentations are online, and Judges should follow shortly.

Thank you for your support and encouragement, and I look forward to building this vision with you and the broader community in the coming year and beyond.

I welcome your ideas and suggestions. Please feel free to contact me at [email protected]. To join the Institute, to contribute, or to learn more about our work, please go to our website, www.jewishideas.org.

Rabbi Hayyim Angel

National Scholar, Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals

National Scholar Second Year Report June 1, 2014—May 31, 2015

Rabbi Hayyim Angel National Scholar, Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals [email protected] jewishideas.org

To our members and friends, I now have completed my second year of working as the National Scholar of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals. It has been an honor and privilege working to promote our vision nationwide primarily through teaching, and also through writing and creating internet classes. This report summarizes my various projects and activities over the past year. In addition to the wide variety of classes and programs, this past year has witnessed remarkable progress in terms of focusing our classes and programs toward articulating the vision of the Institute, finding a new home and partner at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan, and addressing the pressing religious issues of the day through partnerships with other rabbis and scholars.

This past fall, I gave an eight-part series entitled “Creating Jewish Unity.” In this course, I outlined some of the most important elements of a traditionally faithful vision of Judaism that simultaneously is as inclusive as possible. You can hear the series on our website, http://www.jewishideas.org//online-learning. Our partnership with Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun has grown beautifully over the past year with my serving as the KJ Rabbinic Scholar, and we held our first two symposia at KJ this past year:

(1) From the Academy to the Religious Community: How We Can Gain Religious Insight from Academic Jewish Studies, and (

2) Extremely Religious Without Religious Extremism. Each symposium featured three speakers from different disciplines, attracted a wonderful crowd, and most of the talks are posted on our website, http://www.jewishideas.org//online-learning. We will also publish most of the talks in article form in upcoming issues of Conversations.

My major areas of focus have been:

• Community Education:

o There is a serious thirst for the kind of learning represented by our Institute, and a sizable number of communities have invited us. Through a combination of scholar-in-residence programs and lectures in different communities, we reached thousands of interested adults directly in the past year.

o In addition to the concentration of programs in the New York tri-state area, it was gratifying to visit the communities in Memphis, TN; Overland Park, KS; and Los Angeles, CA.

• Teacher Training: o One of our central goals is to train other rabbis, community leaders, and educators to spread Torah to schools and communities. In this manner we create bridges with many people in the field to work together. o I taught a course in “How to Teach Bible in Synagogues” to honors rabbinical students at Yeshiva University.

o I participate annually as faculty in Yeshiva University’s graduate program in Experiential Education. o I taught students at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, and Yeshivat Maharat. o I gave teacher-training seminars to the Bible faculties at CHAT school in Toronto, Ontario. Given the complexities of Bible and Jewish Studies our graduates are likely to encounter on secular university campuses, our training focuses on how to equip Jewish Studies high school faculties to prepare their students for the University setting.

• Publications:

o I published a new collection of essays on Tanakh, entitled Peshat Isn’t So Simple, Kodesh Press.

o The Institute published my Jewish Holiday Companion this past November. It was distributed to Institute members and interested synagogues, educators, and laypeople across the country. This volume makes accessible comments on the holidays and their ritual readings. Additional copies are available at amazon.com.

o I am in the editing stages of a commentary on the prophetic books of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi in the context of the Second Temple Period. It will be published by Maggid Press in Jerusalem.

• Internet Learning:

o We have expanded our Online Learning section on our website, jewishideas.org. You can find links to a growing number of classes of mine there. Below is an itemized listing of the various classes and programs over the past year.

• Most frequently, I served in my capacity of Rabbinic Scholar at Kehilath Jeshurun on a monthly basis from September-June. Going forward, I will be there on most Shabbatot when not away in a different community as a scholar-in-residence.

• June 3-5: Shavuot scholar-in-residence, Young Israel of West Hartford, CT.

• June 16: Book Launch for my book, Peshat Isn’t So Simple. • June 20-21: Scholar-in-residence, Young Israel of Oceanside, NY.

• June 24: Lecture in the Experiential Education program by Yeshiva University.

• May 7-June 25: Seven-part series on the Book of Samuel, Lincoln Square Synagogue, NY.

• June 29-30: Three lectures on Tanakh at the yemei iyyun of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah.

• July 2-30: Five-part series on the Haftarot Lamdeinu Teaneck, NJ.

• October 21:-December 16: Eight-part series on Creating Jewish Unity, Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, NY.

• October 22-December 17: Eight-part series on the Book of Samuel, Lincoln Square Synagogue, NY.

• October 24-25: Scholar-in-residence, Anshei Sfard, Memphis, TN.

• November 14-15: Scholar-in-residence, Young Israel of Hillcrest, NY.

• November 18-December 20: Four-part series on the Haftarot Lamdeinu Teaneck, NJ.

• November 30: Scholarly panel on the movie, Noah. Yeshiva University Museum.

• December 5-6: Scholar-in-residence, BIAV, Overland Park, KS.

• December 9: Class for Yeshiva University’s women’s group, NY.

• December 15: Seminar on Hanukkah to students and parents of the Frisch School, Paramus, NJ.

• January 2-3: Scholar-in-residence, Young Israel of Woodmere-Cedarhurst, NY.

• January 5: Class at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah-Maharat winter intensive, NY.

• January 23-March 27: Nine-part series on how to teach Bible in synagogues, Yeshiva University Honors Rabbinical Students, NY.

• January 28-March 25: Eight-part series on the Book of Samuel, Lincoln Square Synagogue, NY.

• February 7: Scholar-in-residence, Congregation Ohab Shalom, NY.

• February 12: Book Launch for my book, Jewish Holiday Companion.

• February 27-28: Scholar-in-residence, Congregation Ahavath Torah, Englewood, NJ.

• March 10: Teacher training at CHAT school, Toronto, Ontario.

• April 15-June 3: Eight-part series on the Book of Samuel, Lincoln Square Synagogue, NY.

• April 19-May 3: Three-part series on the Book of Ruth, Young Israel of Jamaica Estates, NY. • May 23-25: Shavuot scholar-in-residence, Young Israel of Century City, CA.

Thank you all for your support and enthusiasm, and I look forward to promoting our Torah vision for many years to come.

Rabbi Hayyim Angel

National Scholar Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals

November, 2014

To our members and friends,

With the Holiday season behind us, we have begun our robust schedule of educational programs.

Here are some upcoming highlights:

Kehilath Jeshurun (114 East 85th Street, between Park and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan): The next two Shabbatot as part of a monthly Shabbat Rabbinic Scholar program will be the morning of November 22 at the Sephardic minyan, and then December 20: morning with the Sephardic minyan, and then afternoon classes in the broader Kehilat Jeshurun community. That afternoon, I will teach a class at 3:30 p.m. on the topic of “Cut the Baby in Half: King Solomon’s Wisdom” and present at Seudah Shlishit (following Minhah at 4:05 p.m.) on “The Books of the Maccabees and Rabbinic Thought: Getting to the Roots of Hanukkah.” Classes are free and open to the public.

Creating Jewish Unity: We began a brand-new eight-part series, Creating Jewish Unity, on October 21. This course, sponsored by our Institute, outlines some of the most important areas for developing a religious worldview that is authentic to Jewish tradition, reasonable, and relevant to life in the 21st century. A wide range of opinions is considered, seeking those approaches that best address our complex contemporary reality. These classes present some of the core values of our Institute. It is held on Tuesday mornings, from 8:40-9:30 am, at the Apple Bank on 73rd Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Classes are free and open to the public. Upcoming Creating Jewish Unity Dates: November 18, 25 December 2, 9, 16 The shiurim also are posted on our website, jewishideas.org, on our Online Learning section. You are welcome to join at any time.

Second Samuel: In-Depth Bible Study: We have resumed our in-depth Tanakh learning at Lincoln Square Synagogue (68th Street and Amsterdam in Manhattan). This year we are learning the Second Book of Samuel. These classes meet on Wednesday evenings, 7:15-8:15. Upcoming dates are: November 12, 19 (not 26, Thanksgiving weekend) December 3, 10, 17 These classes are co-sponsored by our Institute and Lincoln Square Synagogue. For registration information, please go to lss.org.

Shabbat November 14-15: I will be scholar-in-residence at the Young Israel of Hillcrest (16907 Jewel Ave, Queens, NY 11365). All are welcome to attend.

Shabbat December 5-6: I will be scholar-in-residence at Beth Israel Abraham & Voliner in Overland Park, Kansas (9900 Antioch Rd, Overland Park, KS 66212). All are welcome to attend.

Four Thursdays: November 20, December 4, 11, 18, 11:45-1:00: Lamdeinu Teaneck, Haftarot. For registration and more information, go to http://www.lamdeinu.org.

On Shabbat October 24-25, I was scholar-in-residence at Anshei Sphard Beth El Emeth in Memphis, Tennessee. My book, A Jewish Holiday Companion, is a sequel to my Synagogue Companion. It is being published by our Institute and should be available shortly. Thanks to the generosity of special friends and supporters of the Institute, the book will be distributed at no charge to members of our Institute. It will also be available through our Institute's online store and at amazon.com.

As always, I thank our members and friends for their support and for enabling us to spread our Institute’s vision through teaching and publications throughout the country and beyond. Stay tuned for a new layer of exciting program, which I look forward to describing in my next report!

Rabbi Hayyim Angel

National Scholar

The Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals has been co-sponsoring my ten-part series of weekly classes with Lincoln Square Synagogue in the First Book of Samuel (68th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan). Ten Wednesdays from 7:15-8:15 pm from January 29-April 2. Registration for the entire course costs $150, or it costs $20 per class if you register in advance/$25 at the door per class. You can register at lss.org/RabbiAngel.

Some other teaching highlights from February include:

Shabbat Feb 7-8: scholar-in-residence at Yeshiva University. Shiurim on the interrelationship between traditional and academic methods of Tanakh study (this is primarily for students there)

Shabbat Feb 15: Shabbat morning class at Congregation Ohav Shalom after morning services (84th between Broadway and West End Avenue, NYC): "Hur and Pharaoh's daughter." Around 11:00am

Sunday Feb 23: class on Megillat Esther at the Kingsway Jewish Center in Brooklyn. 9:30-10:30 am, Kingsway Jewish Center 2810 Nostrand Avenue Brooklyn NY 11234

Shabbat Feb 28-March 1: scholar-in-residence program at Cornell University (for Cornell students). I will be giving a four-part series at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in Riverdale, NY beginning March 5 on the Book of Jeremiah, for students at YCT.

Thursday March 6: I will be conducting a teacher training session on the Book of Jeremiah for Tanakh faculty at the Ramaz Upper School in New York.

Shabbat March 7-8: scholar-in-residence at Congregation Shaarei Orah in Teaneck, New Jersey. This Shabbat will feature several talks on Sephardic and Ashkenazic liturgy and philosophy and how a study of both deepens our appreciation of tradition. 1425 Essex Rd, Teaneck, NJ 07666

Certainly the study of Kabbalah(esoteric literature) is authentic and part of the Torah. We know that the great Rabbis that we all revere—the Ramban, Rav Moshe Cordovero, the Ramchal, the Wilna Gaon, Rav Shneur Zalman (Chabad), the Malbim, Rav Chaim Wolozhin, Rav Yosef Hayyim of Baghdad--and many other luminaries spent many hours in its study and produced brilliant literature. Beyond that, didn't Chazzal (Chagiga 13a) themselves deal with these subjects?

However, in our day and age we are faced with the problem of Pseudo-Kabbalists, people who are really ignorant of the true Kabbalah but nevertheless make it into a profitable business. These imposters are photogenic, very impressive in beard and garb, and make a show of great piety. Many who have some problem or worry and who wish to find an anchor of security, feel relieved to have the blessings of these pseudo-kabbalists; although to achieve that "blessing" we must grant them a sizeable amount of money.

Some of these pseudo-kabbalists deal in giving "Divine" advice. When a prospective bride or groom ask for divination whether the match is "lucky", the imposters check the Gimatria of the names, which of course has no practical bearing on the suitability of the match. (So said the Steipler Rabbi, his words recorded in "Tamim Tiyeh" page 13). Who can count how many unfortunate people had their wedding hopes dashed due to the false advice given by such kabbalists? Some imposters claim that the cause of marriage unhappiness and bickering is due to some fault in the letters of the Ketuba document. These pseudo-kabbalists are willing to re-write a new Ketuba, of course for a sizeable sum. Others check the Mezuza, and finding some fault in its legality, claim that this was the cause for illness or financial loss. (And of course rewrite a new Mezuza, for a "nice" sum). Those people who took such advice didn't go to doctors, or to financial advisors, since they relied on the occult advice of these imposters.

Others were advised to change their place of domicile, or change their profession, due to some whim or inner hunch of the "Kabbalist". This implicit reliance on "soothsayers" is negated by Sefer Tanya (of Chabad, page 134).

The question which many readers might ask is "why claim that these "Rabbis" are imposters? I answer: For two reasons. First, all of the famous Kabbalists of yore, all the ancients, didn't deal with these "meddlings" aforementioned. Not the Arizal, not the Ba-al ShemTov, nor any great Gadol of note. And of course there is no mention of such matters in the Zohar literature. These shenanigans are innovations of our present century!

Secondly, this is a false understanding just what Kabbalah is about. The great Ramchal teaches in his book (Sha-arei Ramchal, pages 36, 62, 404) that all of the Kabbalah is built on parables and proverbs and if one doesn't know how to unravel the parable, he really knows nothing. This fundamental approach was said too by Rav Moshe Cordovero (in his Shiur Koma, article Mashal), so too by Rabbi Chayim Volozhin (Nefesh ha-Chayim, part three chapter seven) and others. The pseudo-kabbalists mumble words of the externals, the words of Zohar and Arizal like a fetish, without understanding the inner import. How do we know this? It is because they display publicly their knowledge, they flaunt their "connections" with the occult world. And the Wilna Gaon writes (at the beginning of his commentary to Sifra Di-tzniuta) that Proverbs (11, 2) writes "Et Znu-im , Chochma" those who are modest and don't reveal their expertise, they are those who attain Chochma. As written in Chagiga 13a "Dvash ve Chalav Tachat Leshoneich" wisdom which is sweeter than honey mixed with milk, keep under your tongue! See also the Gaon's teaching on Mishlei 12 verse 28, the real Tzaddikim conceal their inner knowledge. See too the words of Maharal, Avot beginning of chapter six, Ve-he-vai Tzanua (page 285).

In the recent period, several of these fakers have been caught doing sinful sexual actions with female applicants. This causes great Chillul Hashem. The mis-step was already foreseen by the great Rav Nachman of Breslav, who says (Chayei MoHaran 526) that the word "Kabbalah" is the numerical equivalent of "No-eif" (137). Certainly he doesn't intend to say that ALL kabbalists will fall under that category. He only says that those who are not fitting will "slip". This I found in the Zohar (book three, page 123a) that those faulty people unworthy of learning Kabbalah, will be misled by snakes and scorpions, which is a figure of speech for the evil inclination.

Who is fitting to undertake the real study of Kabbalah? Rabbi Chaim Vital, the major student of the Arizal, notifies us (on page 23 of his Introduction to the Etz Chayim) of twenty four conditions. To be sexually pure of sin. To beware of conceit. To be chary of idle chatter. Never to get angry. To love all Jews (in other words not to have a riff with anyone). To have proper intention for all of the 100 benedictions uttered each day, etc., and many other conditions which are very difficult for most people to practice properly. So how can we give the mantle of Kabbalistic authority to just anybody who has impressive dress or mode of speech?

The problem is that some of these imposters sometimes seem to have clairvoyant abilities. Some of them are good at telepathy, or at foreseeing future events, or even for grasping private personal details of the person asking for their blessing. Isn't that a sign of Kedusha? Not So! Researchers at Duke University are presently studying the matter of para-psychological abilities. There are people who are born with that knack, without being holy at all. The Rambam in his Introduction to Perush HaMishna, admits that some people have wonderful ability (despite the fact that they sometimes err). However, it is no sign at all of holiness or of connection with the Almighty. To the contrary, this prowess is a Nissayon (spiritual test) to the person born with that ability, that by misusing his talents he will have control over other people's minds, get their money and dedication, and even establish a cult.

A century ago, the giant ship called "Titanic" hit an iceberg and sank with over 1,500 voyagers. The tragedy was foreseen by Morgan Robertson and depicted in his book "Futility" four years before the tragedy! So too the terrible assassination of John Kennedy was foreseen several years in advance by Jean Dixon. She depicted the month, the place of ambush, the physical description of the murderer. It was uncanny.

Knowing in advance, or knowing secret and personal details of our lives, is no sign of sanctity nor of connection with the Almighty.

We must be wary of these people. Kabbalah, the true Kabbalah, is something else entirely. It is to understand the inner meaning of the Mitzvot, it is to fathom greater understanding of Holy Scripture. It is to understand Aggadot Chazzal (So says the Wilna Gaon, writing on Mishlei 24 verse 30. And so too says the Sefer Tanya of Lubavitch , page 137). It is to get the real appreciation of Ahavat Hashem ve-yir-ato.

Kabbalah is not be a hatchet to be used for bettering our temporal situations (Kardom lachpor bah - Avot, chapter four). And people relying on the "advice" of these charlatans may bring upon themselves considerable physical, spiritual, emotional and financial sufferings.