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 [...]

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 – [...]

From Our Archives: Pesach

The Ten Plagues by Norman Fredman (20:4, Winter 1982) Rav Safra and the Second Festival Day: Lessons About the Evolution of the Jewish Calendar by J. Jean Ajdler (38:4, Winter 2004) The Odd and Instructive Habits of Non-Observant Jews: A Look at Berit Milah and Pesah by Emanuel Feldman (41:2, Summer 2008) Review Essay: Digesting [...]

שאל אביך ויגדך: What Are the Parameters of Looking to Tradition for Guidance?

שאל אביך ויגדך: What Are the Parameters of Looking to Tradition for Guidance? by Gidon Rothstein In a recent shiur I give at Webyeshiva.org, I came across a story the Rov, zt”l, tells about his great-grandfather, the Beis haLevi. In the 1800s, the Radzyner Rebber, R. Gershon Henoch Leiner, believed he had re-discovered tekhelet, the [...]

Final Exam in Jewish Philosophy of Dr. Joseph Soloveitchik, 1936

by Nathaniel Helfgot An interesting detail of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt”l’s biography, not widely known or discussed (for example, it is not mentioned in the important biographical essay on the Rav that opens Rabbi Aaron Rakaffet’s two volume  The Rav: The World of R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik nor in the important work of my [...]