tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99262302009-11-27T06:56:56.937-05:00הפוך בה והפוך בה דכולה בה. אתר די ביה יחדון רוחין ונפשיןADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.comBlogger856125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-75690413997147032032009-11-27T06:35:00.002-05:002009-11-27T06:56:56.956-05:00

Berlin and Jerusalem have an interesting relationship. Ever since the 19th Century, when there was widespread sentiment that "Berlin is the New Jerusalem", the cities been, in a sense, antipodal. We all know about the prescient words of the Meshekh Chokhma, and we know about the fortunes of the two cities since then.I was reminded of their antipodality this week. Both Jerusalem and Berlin were

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-25594495932133244422009-11-26T05:35:00.003-05:002009-11-26T09:59:24.631-05:00

Listening to my youtube playlist (which shows pretty clearly that I came of age in the early 1990s), I was reminded of a reading of a well-known Gemara that I posted, and which somewhat relates to this week's parsha as well as to my post on last week's parhsa.Enjoy.

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-82507235597742975602009-11-19T16:39:00.002-05:002009-11-19T17:01:13.718-05:00

This is an oldie but a goodie (the rabbi formerly known as Yehupitz recalled it to me). it never actually appeared on this blog, but on the short lived "Maven Yavin" blog. It also brings me back to a less cynical point in my life (I wrote this 4 years ago but developed the kernel 13 years ago already). Here it is:Although much has been written on the Ba'al Teshuvah experience, the experience of

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-76234864374452074112009-11-03T08:06:00.002-05:002009-11-03T08:52:07.787-05:00

Egla arufa, recorded in Deuteronomy 21:1-9 is one of the Torah’s more obscure mitzvot. If a corpse is found in the vicinity of a town, that entire town, represented by its elders, must expiate itself of the murder by performing an atoning ritual (breaking the neck of a calf at a dry riverbed) and declaring that they did not perpetrate the murder. The Talmudic Rabbis nevertheless attribute some

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-88661131847669840712009-10-21T03:51:00.002-04:002009-10-21T04:06:53.978-04:00

[No, I'm not 'back']About 10 months ago, I mentioned a contest to give Uranus and Neptune Hebrew names. I suggested Rahav for Neptune and Elyon for Uranus, but later mentioned that I prefer Shahak for Uranus, as suggested by BZ.Well, four names have made the final voting round - two for each planet. Both Rahav and Shahak are on the list, and both BZ and I are listed amongst those who proposed the

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-54578693413434791942009-08-18T18:40:00.001-04:002009-08-18T18:42:45.163-04:00

Blogging was my primary hobby for about 4 years. It was a good hobby. It helped me hone my writing skills to the point where I now write (and edit and translate) for a living. However, once writing became my primary occupation, it lost some of its luster as an outlet. So I’ve found a new hobby: Teaching. While teaching and rabbinating, writing was an outlet. Now that I have been out of teaching

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-8744267251402181692009-08-17T10:12:00.003-04:002009-08-17T10:15:55.333-04:00

A while ago, I started blogging about the book of Ezra, then stopped. I am, however, doing the OU's Nach Yomi podcasts for Ezra/ Nechemiah, and the first 2 shiurim are up. They will average about 20 mins in length, though Ezra chap. 2 is a bit longer. Enjoy!

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-13472181951663679942009-08-01T22:18:00.003-04:002009-08-01T23:04:47.252-04:00

The uproar reminds me of some of the comment I got when I told the student newspaper at UMD that Jewish men are circumcised because Jewish women need to have 10% off of everything. Some people (like the entire Muslim world, and also a few Jews, generally a generation older than me) do not understand this particular brand of humor (which I discussed here).Another example of this type of

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-72061470883168914462009-07-27T17:42:00.005-04:002009-07-27T17:48:49.739-04:00

[Full disclosure: I was involved in the publication of this volume, as I translated the Hebrew introduction into English and have helped them with their website and English language communications. That said, I gain nothing from increased sales.] Debate has long raged between the community of philosophers and the community of Torah scholars regarding the intellectual legacy of the Rambam, with

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-47425470802368354772009-07-17T10:53:00.003-04:002009-07-17T11:18:47.169-04:00

According to this article, should Wall Street investors be disqualified from bearing testimony in Jewish courts? Read on...Sanhedrin might be my favorite masechet. I've learned the whole thing through 4 times, and have had several other sedarim to learn various parts be-iyun, and am currently learning the first parts of Choshen Mishpat, which is heavily based in Sanhedrin. I've always found it to

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-52057388018374526772009-07-13T19:29:00.001-04:002009-07-13T19:30:42.309-04:00

There was a news report today that Tzohar rabbis will now be allowed to accept payment for providing religious services such as officiating at weddings. This is ostensibly a response to the financial reality, but it's probably more complicated than that. I have no doubt that Tzohar is suffering financially; their original sugar daddy, Avi Chai, is slowly cutting off funding (they fund

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-79123934975225673682009-07-06T10:45:00.003-04:002009-07-06T11:33:50.466-04:00

In addition to the post I linked to below, I made another point about this issue here.I see four sources of pressure that push toward the ordination (call it what you want) of Orthodox women:Feminism within Orthodoxy - the desire of Orthodox women to gain titular recognition of their achievements and positions. This is part of the general trend toward egalitarianism and feminism (two separate

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-39548429075747520932009-07-05T19:22:00.004-04:002009-07-05T20:16:09.013-04:00

[Note: My wife is not a Mahara"t, though she has, for many years, filled roles that may easily be described as rabbinic]As part of my husbandly duties as Maharetzin, I would like to announce that my wife will be speaking 3 times in the next two weeks in the Baltimore/ Washington area: For the next two Tuesday nights (7/7 and 7/14), 8-9:30pm at the National Synagogue (free of charge), on the topic

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-14431078100083999332009-07-01T12:52:00.001-04:002009-07-01T20:04:31.338-04:00

we're back in the US for a good chunk of the summer. We'll be in the DC area for the next few weeks (let us know if you're in the area and want to get together) before heading up to camp. The rebbetzin has a few teaching engagements lined up in Baltimore and DC.Although I normally like having the opportunity of listening to regular MLB night games. Last night, the combination of jetlag and

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-72341122968595116882009-06-19T10:20:00.002-04:002009-06-19T10:23:41.064-04:00

My second grade daughter, currently learning Parshat Vayechi, came up with the following question:Q. Why did Dina not get a bracha?My wife and I think it's a great question.She also came up with an answer:A. It probably would have been something really girly, like "get married and have lots of kids".

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-39257138035027298492009-06-18T14:22:00.004-04:002009-06-19T06:05:33.753-04:00

I originally called this blog "Self-hating Rabbi". I was bitter. I still have some of those sentiments, but, since I'm not a practicing rabbi anymore, I tend not to get all worked up about things anymore. Sometimes I miss it, but usually not. For example, the whole conversion thing is rearing its ugly head again; apparently, R. Metzger backed R. Sherman at a recent EJF convention - and I don't

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-36158892861596227902009-06-18T06:30:00.002-04:002009-06-18T06:47:24.260-04:00

I've been going through some of R. Elchanan Samet's shiurim on Tehilim (in Hebrew; the English ones are coming out a bit slower). I might have mentioned it before, but I find R. Samet to be one of the most exciting contemporary commentators on the TaNakh. I've read a lot of his stuff - on Chumash, on Melakhim, and now on Tehillim, and he's really very good.In the shiur that I'm currently reading,

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-59015645727454648262009-06-18T03:32:00.001-04:002009-06-18T03:34:32.107-04:00

Check out The Talmud Blog.I would probably be interested in it even had I not been related to the blogger...

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-51415505345538310932009-06-13T16:06:00.000-04:002009-06-13T16:07:04.423-04:00

link

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-52387000954711303492009-06-11T13:16:00.003-04:002009-06-11T13:24:40.248-04:00

I have an article in the Jewish Action that just came out. The topic of the article is the construction of eruvin on college campuses in the past decade.I'll post a link when it's up.A couple of random thoughts during the drive up to Akko this week:1) Does Baka al-Jarbiyeh mean "the Valley of Socks"?2) It would be extremely cool if there was ever a Megadeth concert at Megido.While at Akko, Raphi

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-62230934048268867182009-06-07T17:04:00.002-04:002009-06-07T17:07:49.092-04:00

As part of my shul’s building campaign, I came up with the idea of creating a “virtual mall” to help with the fundraising effort. Thus far, in its 2 months of operation, it has generated about $113 – not a tremendous amount, but we’re just getting started. In truth, once its set up, there is very easy to maintain and it’s “passive income”. The trick is to get the members of your community to do

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-79715666045532492302009-06-04T18:23:00.003-04:002009-06-04T19:04:51.274-04:00

In this week's parsha, the Israelites complained about the things that they missed about Egypt, like fish and watermelon. I sort of satirized this 2 years ago (here), and, fortunately, most people actually got the joke.Then, about a year ago, I created the "Bounty of Spain" meme to discuss products that olim import from abroad.Every once in a while, though, you come across something American in

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-2042762170879380212009-06-04T17:36:00.002-04:002009-06-04T18:22:57.975-04:00

Gotta jump on the bandwagon of spinning the Obama speech. In delineating the long history of Muslim-American relations, he invoked the 1796-1797 Treaty of Tripoli. This is significant for two reasons, one obvious, and one less so.The obvious significance is that the treaty established the non-Christian nature of the United States. In fact, Article 11 of the treaty, from which the President quoted

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-53032006693817163432009-06-01T13:18:00.002-04:002009-06-01T13:34:41.156-04:00

Since making aliyah, we have instituted a custom in our family regarding the night of Shavu'ot. Our meal is graced by the presence of two very important guests who truly enhance our simchat Yom Tov. Their names are Ben and Jerry.The wife and I each gave a shiur over Yom Tov - the same shiur, more or less, in fact. It's an expansion of this. I generally don't stay up all night anymore. Maybe when

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9926230.post-55229565738871280062009-05-22T04:18:00.002-04:002009-05-22T04:29:24.721-04:00

The Chief Rabbi's translation (in the Singer Siddur and in the newly released Koren Siddur - linked at the right and reviewed by me here) of the word "shema" has been discussed a good deal. Rather than the more common "Hear O Israel", he translates it as "Listen, Israel".In general, I think that "listen" makes a lot more sense. However, this seems to be precisely the debate between Rabbi and the

ADDeRabbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11749876612695930184noreply@blogger.com0