Homosexuality and Halakha: In Tradition and Beyond

In light of the public discussion surrounding the recent Statement of Principles on homosexuality and Judaism, penned by one of our regular contributors, Text & Texture is making available some of the Tradition articles that have been written about homosexuality and halakha.  Additionally, we include below an essay by Rabbi Michael J. Broyde and Rabbi Shlomo [...]

Against the Shulchan Aruch: The Critique of the Maharshal by Shlomo Brody

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo caused a small tempest of controversy in a recent essay calling for greater autonomous religiosity.  Without commenting on his larger and more radical thesis, his citation of the Maharshal and his critique of the codification of halakha was noteworthy, as R’ Cardozo became the latest of a long string of historical figures who asserted that codification [...]

The View of Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt”l on the Ordination of Women by Aryeh A. Frimer

  I have been avidly following the recent discussion at the RCA Convention and on the various blogs regarding granting women semikha.  I was rather surprised, however, that in all the active give and take, there is one opinion that has not been placed center stage. I am referring to the view of Moreinu veRabbeinu [...]

Change and Unity: Navigating the Tension by Gidon Rothstein

It should be unarguable that as times change, our expression of the eternal principles of halachah changes as well.  When cars, computers, and other technological wonders came along, rabbis and poskim had to figure out how those appliances fit within the world of halachah. In those cases, the process was perhaps eased by the items [...]

Women in Communal Leadership Positions: Shul Presidents by Aryeh Frimer

Below is the edited text of a lecture delivered by Rabbi Aryeh Frimer to congregants of the Tiferet Moshe Synagogue – Rabbi Jacob Berman Community Center, Rehovot, Israel on Tevet 24, 5767 – January 14, 2007. These comments are based in part on Aryeh A. Frimer, “Nashim beTafkidim Tsiburiyyim beIdan haModerni;” In “Afikei Yehudah – [...]

Halacha and Autonomous Religiosity: What’s the Problem? by Gidon Rothstein

I first heard of Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo over twenty years ago, when I was a semicha student and he was already a well-known teacher of Torah in Yerushalayim.  I mention that because as I come to comment on his recent cri de coeur– “The Future and the Spirit of Halacha: Unconventional Thoughts in Relation [...]

Partnership Minyanim by Aryeh A. Frimer and Dov I. Frimer

Below is the edited text of a teleconferenced lecture delivered by Rabbis Aryeh and Dov Frimer to participants at the 51st Annual Convention of the Rabbinical Council of America on April 27, 2010. These comments are based on a very lengthy and heavily documented article which will be completed shortly; with a few exceptions, only [...]

Rabbi Nachum Rabinovitch’s New Responsa: Worth More Than a Casual Look

The first months I had my Bar-Ilan CD-Rom, almost fifteen years ago by now, I got lost many times, overwhelmed by the multitude of sources the disc contained.  It was not until I learned to play favorites, particularly with Midrashim and Responsa, that I could make any forward progress. Even then, I was repeatedly introduced [...]

Focusing on Function: Women’s Leadership Roles by Nathaniel Helfgot

The following is an edited version of my initial remarks at a panel on Women’s Leadership Roles that was held on the first day of the RCA convention on Sunday, April 25, 2010. The panel consisted of Rabbi Michael Broyde, Rabbi Gidon Rothstein, Dr. Deena Zimmerman and myself. It was conceived and moderated by Rabbi [...]

Bringing the Geulah Through Mekhirat Chametz by Daniel Z. Feldman

Mekhirat chametz sometimes gets a bad rap. The widespread practice of observant Jews selling their chametz to a non-Jew prior to Pesach, and thus avoiding the prohibitions of bal yeraeh and bal yematze while preserving the chametz for repossession after Pesach, is sometimes seen as a way of not having one’s cake and eating it [...]

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