How ought religion, including Modern Jewish Orthodoxy, interact with America’s political democracy? And can it survive our current culture? Not surprisingly, these simple questions simultaneously point in many directions. Although answers are complex, I do think that a few meaningful generalizations are possible.
The Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals opened in the autumn of 2007. As we approach our 14th anniversary, we thank you for your continued loyalty and support. To mark this anniversary, we plan to include a Scroll of Honor in the autumn issue of our journal, Conversations.
1. Women: Tradition, and Thoughts for the Future
2. Intermarriage and Conversion
3. Universalism vs. Particularism: Sephardism and/or Sephardic Ethnicity
4. Rationalism/Mysticism/Superstition
The laws of the Red Heifer are in the category of "hok," laws which transcend human comprehension. Yet, we can learn a lot from this kind of law.
Rabbi Alan Yuter describes the halakhic approach of his late teacher, Hakham Yosef Faur. Hakham Faur was a controversial figure who was both highly traditional and highly independent as a religious thinker.
Purim is a reminder that there is a fine line between reality and illusion. Blurring that line once a year underscores how easily one might lose sight of truth and authenticity. But after the day of masquerading, we are supposed to have come to a better understanding of who we are under the mask…and who we are when we don’t wear masks.
Rabbi Marc D. Angel describes the lives and teachings of significant American Sephardim of the Western Sephardic tradition. These men and women were influential during the course of their lifetimes...and deserve to be remembered and appreciated.
We may find it jarring to come into contact with Jews who observe minhagim different from ours. We may think that their practices are quaint, or odd, or plain wrong....The hope is that through greater awareness and empathy, we will function as a stronger, happier, and more diverse Jewish community. We need a genuine recognition that in our various searches for Divinity, different Jewish communities have followed diverse—perfectly halakhic and proper—roads.
Rabbanit Shira Marili Mirvis made history as the first-ever Israeli woman appointed to be the sole rabbinic leader of an Orthodox synagogue, the Shirat Hatamar congregation in Efrat. Rabbi Daniel Bouskila interviewed her about her fascinating journey to this groundbreaking milestone.
R. Reines did not see Zionism as devoid of religious value. To the contrary, it was a movement of teshuvah, of return. R. Reines the realist knew that Mizrachi must remain a political arm of the Zionist movement. Nonetheless, he still believed that at its core, Zionism was a spiritual awakening.