charliehall

“A woman cannot be a witness and cannot be dayan”

Actually a woman can be a dayan in a property case, although at the moment there are no women with the appropriate level of semichah. Rav Uziel z’tz’l points this out in his response to Rav Kook z’tz’l over the issue of women voting and running for office; essentially the entirety of the Jewish world accepted Rav Uziel’s opinion.

“I want to be a doctor, so let’s say, hypothetically, that I know everything I need to know to set up shop, but since I didn’t go to med school, I can’t get my MD”

There was a time, not that long ago, when women could not become doctors. Elizabeth Blackwell, followed by her sister Emily Blackwell, were the first two female physicians in the United States — graduating from medical school in the United States in 1849. (Interestingly the first female Protestant minister in the US, Antoinette Brown, would marry their brother Sam Blackwell.) However, what is not well known is that in ancient times, in the middle ages, and in early modern times there were a very, very small number of female physicians in Europe. Similarly, there were a very small number of learned women in Judaism who fulfilled rabbi-like roles without the title.

“Perhaps to some, the title of rebbetzin signifies the kind of female rabbi indicated in benignuman’s post; for many, however, that does not seem to be the case.”

Rebbitzen mean’s rabbi’s wife; there isn’t any reason why one must be married to someone with semichah in order to get semichah yourself.

” it denotes being kosher as a dayan”

The usual yoreh yoreh semichah that 99% of rabbis have specifically does NOT qualify them to be a dayan. And see above.

‘I personally do not understand how a rabbi whose contract must be re-approved periodically and whose son does not inherit his postion (see Rav Shaul Yisrael, “Amud HaYemini” 12:5) is said to hold a ????.’

Neither do I. The way that congregations treat rabbis clearly shows that it is the people with the money who have the ????.

“It does seem somewhat disturbing that we would be held hostage like that by the actions of outsiders.”

Indeed it is changing the Torah because of the actions of outsiders.

” intrinsic to proper society roles”

Given that there are only about a dozen mitzvot from the Torah for which there is a different obligation for men than for women, it is a pretty big stretch to use the Torah to justify the halachic imposition of different roles for women that arose in the non-Jewish culture around us.

Before one can adequately address this question, one has to realize what “ordination” means today: If you have yoreh yoreh semichah, you are a rabbi, whatever title you have. Contrary to what the opponents of women’s ordination claim, yoreh yoreh semichah does NOT make you qualified as a dayan, chas v’shalom! All the subjects typically included in the examinations for yoreh semichah — kashrut, Shabat and Yom Tov, taharat hamishpacha, and aveilut — are subjects for which women and men both have a chiyuv, so there is absolutely no prohibition to teach women these halachot (and probably a chiyuv on the community to teach them). All the yoreh yoreh says is that the examining rabbi (or school) deems the recipient knowledgeable in those matters, and sufficiently trustworthy to teach and answer questions in those matters. It doesn’t imply any more ???? for women than for men.

And although it has been rare in the past, we HAVE had such learned women so this is not really an innovation, just restoring something that died out probably as a response to the ways of the goyim who badly oppressed women by keeping them ignorant. In addition to Devorah and Beruriah, whom others have mentioned, the gemara in chullin reports that in talmudic times learned women would teach each other the laws of taharat hamishpacha and examine each others’s bedikah cloths. That is exactly the kind of thing that the learned women from Rav and Rabbanit Henkin’s Nishmat program do with they get certified as a yoetzet halachah.

We should be rejoicing that in our times we have such learned women in our communities!

Rav Aviner does not permit any kind of pants for women under any circumstances, not even pajamas!

However, many other dati poskim are more meikel. The Religious Zionist kibbutz movement specifically permits them.

It should be noted that modern trousers did not make it to the Ashkenazic Jewish world until about 200 years ago. They had been commonly worn in the Sefardic world by Muslim women long before. In America, women and men both started wearing trousers and overalls on a regular basis, except in cities, at about that time. I have seen century-old photographs of female railroad workers for the Southern Pacific railroad; every woman is in trousers or overalls (they looked like loose denim, but I could not be absolutely sure because they were black and white photos).

“dont make a lchatchila out of a bdieved!”

Rav Soloveitchik z’tz’l insisted that it wasn’t just a l’chatchila, it was a chiyuv for all!

Rav Soloveitchik z’tz’l went further than the Lubavicher Rebbe, insisting that communities need to teach not just aggadata but gemara to women.

“head on a platter”

That idiom is from a Christian source; we really should not use it here. However, your point is well taken; we do not discourage women from learning Torah in our times.

“Would you want a doctor who considered an effective treatment and doing nothing, and being a centrist decided on a somewhat effective treatment? “

In many cases, yes. The “somewhat effective treatment” may carry less risk than a very effective but highly risky treatment. And doing nothing if often the best treatment.

“The question is if it is taught in high school/college as a Limud, or as a subject.”

Most modern orthodox high schools do not make such a distinction, in part because philosophically we object to compartmenting Torah.

IIRC, the term “centrist orthodox” was coined by Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, former President of Yeshiva University to refer to what YU practices. YCT pretty much does the same thing. To say that he doesn’t speak English well is a massive slander at a major talmid chacham; an apology is in order.

“It’s difficult to say its the law of the land if its never enforced.”

That may have halachic significance. CYLOR.

“the State should Not be able to pass Laws than in essence encourage people to use Pot, which is against Federal law. And this is fact that this is what happens.”

Sorry, but the people who wrote the US Constitution disagreed.

“I just proved to you that they don’t in the above case.”

You proved nothing of the kind.

“So why are you allowed to grow Pot plants? Why does the Feds ignore this?”

It is illegal everywhere in the US to grow pot plants. The feds don’t prosecute because they have better things to do with their resources.

My own rabbi’s favorite headcovering is a black fedora over a white and blue kippa sruga. 🙂

“This should be illegal, acc. to federal law, to make such a law -if it isn’t already.”

I guess you must not live in the US because you seem to have no clue about how the federal system works in the US. The federal government has no power to make it illegal for a state or local government to pass a law. In most cases any federal law, however, would pre-empt any state or local laws, and that is the case here.

“Funny, the NYPD has a terrrorist task force. As far as I know there is No city law outlawing terrorism – Nor did any federal agency give them permission to investigate possible terrorists on their own, only to be part of the JTTF. How could they waste taxpayers money on enforcing federal law?”

NYPD works closely with federal law enforcement agencies; just to give one example, they and the FBI jointly stopped 4 people who were planning to blow up two synagogues in my neighborhood. But the state or local government agencies need permission to do this; they are not permitted to be freelancers.

“Police Depts. can enforce Federal law if they choose to, but by Pot they seem unwilling to.”

Local police departments can only enforce federal law with permission of the appropriate federal law enforcement agency.

“Really? So with a Script -I can plant and grow Opium and I won’t be breaking any law like I can with Pot? I don’t think so!”

You would need a license from the FDA to produce opiates, and like any prescription drugs there would be very strict supervision of the manufacturing process. The same is true of cocaine, which is also a legal prescription drug. Not all opiates are legal; for example, heroin has the same status as marijuana.

“While there is likely some drug use/abuse in almost any yeshiva, and the Roshei Yeshiva are aware of the possibility, the yeshivas I am familiar with would not condone such behavior nor would they allow to come to a situation where there is massive drug use!!!”

It is actually a mix. Some RYs are actually very concerned and have sponsored drug abuse programs; others seem to live in terror that the parents who pay the bills, who think that by sending their kids to a Jewish school they will insure that their kids will avoid negative influences, will find out that there is drug use in the school. And few if any can know what kids are doing when they aren’t being watched. It isn’t condoning, it is denial and lack of knowledge.

“Do your friends know who you are?”

Yes. I use my real name.

“it’s high time we started prosecuting and/or punishing the States that allow smoking weed. Not only should we prosecute the users, but the Gov. for passing a law against Federal law and Not enforcing Federal law.”

High time? Are you smoking something?

Marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law, although there is really no justification for that classification. It should at worst be a legal prescription drug like cocaine — there is good evidence of medical benefit and it has lower acute toxicity than just about any prescription drug that exists. And there is absolutely nothing that requires a state to make something illegal under state law just because the federal government has made it illegal. The federal government is still able to prosecute all the potheads in America, except that it would require a massive tax increase to pay for all the additional prosecutors, judges, and prisons that would be required. The right wingers would never stand for that.

“Are you saying that a mechitza is not halachically required in a shul?”

No.

“Or are you saying that it used to not be but now is?”

Not necessarily. I am saying that the requirement for a mechitzah is almost certainly a d’rabbanan (at most), as (1) the mitzvot for which mechitzot are required are d’rabbanans, (2) there was no mechitzah in the Beit HaMikdash except for Yom Tov, (3) and even that balcony was only instituted by rabbinic decree at the very end of the Bayit Sheni period, (4) were such a balcony a d’oraita the people who built Bayit Rishon and Bayit Sheni would have been over a d’oraita, chas v’shalom, which is impossible, (5) even after the balcony was built, a woman could still enter the priests’ courtyard itself to shecht her own korban with the male priest right next to her capturing the blood, (6) not only does the gemara in Chullin say that a woman can shecht, but (7) the mishnah in Middot says that there was a separate women’s entrance to the priests’ courtyard. This is all documented in rabbinic sources. Rav Soloveitchik z’tz’l held that the requirement for a mechitzah is d’rabbanan.

However, it is possible that mechitzot were ALWAYS required in a beit knesset as (1) a beit knesset is very different from the beit hamikdash, (2) we don’t know exactly when the first beit knesset was built, (3) at the very institution of communal tefillah the Anshe Knesset HaGadol might have included a requirement for separate seating and a mechitzah. However, with the exception of the attribution of the institution of tefillah to the Avot, and to the Anshe Knesset HaGadol, there really aren’t any sources to back this up that I have ever seen. I heard from Prof. Lawrence Schiffman that the very earliest written documentation of a beit knesset (during late Bayit Sheni times) is actually from a Christian source. We have lost so many of our sources :(.

There are ways to compromise here. The Religious Zionists created both the Hesder system to combine military service and learning — some of the greatest rabbis alive today teach in Hesder yeshivot. More recently they created the pre-army prep schools for young people who don’t want the Hesder program. Sherut Leumi is full of frum people and I don’t know why it would be inappropriate for charedim; indeed many charedim already do very similar service in organizations like the various hatzolah organizations and Zaka. I’d read reports of Nachal Charedi soldiers making siyumim. We all know that in no educational setting is everybody really learning; nobody should kid themselves that everyone in charedi yeshivot in Israel are.

Unfortunately, neither side seems much interested in moderation right now, much less compromise.

“if you hold it’s d’Oraiso, you assume it was there during the first bayis as well”

Chazal say it wasn’t. I guess if you were a Karaite you could say that it was.

I thought it was a great article. Now if we could just can the bigotry against modern orthodox and religious Zionists expressed by some commenters in forums like this….

“R’Itche Meir levin signed the Declaration of Independence”

He also served in Ben Gurion’s first three cabinets.

“It is incredibly, incredibly difficult to ever even advise anyone to Pasken against Rav Moshe in America.”

Not when your position is supported by someone of the stature of Rav Soloveitchik z’tz’l or Rav Henkin z’tz’l. Both were here in America before Rav Moshe z’tz’l. Or, to give another example, Rabbi Hershel Schachter, who endorses eruvim in Manhattan.

There is actually quite a bit of halachic literature regarding what to do when you are at or near the Arctic Circle, with numerous approaches. Your Rosh Kollel should be able to find that literature and come up with an acceptable solution. Good luck!

Sandy Koufax not pitching Game One in the World Series because it was Yom Kippur.

Many decades later I researched his record; it appears that never in his 12 year career did he pitch on Yom Kippur.

The required height for a mechitzah is a machloket poskim. Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin z’tz’l, a contemporary of similar stature to Rav Moshe z’tz’l, held that ten tefachim was l’chatchila the required height. (He also required that the mechitzah be rigid, which would pasul many much more opaque mechitzot.) This height is based on all of Chazal’s discussions in Eruvim and Sukkot so this is a very well grounded psak. The oldest Orthodox synagogue in America, Shearith Israel, has mechitzot that ten tefachim high. That congregation is notorious for refusing to countenance even slight departures from their long-established nusachim.

“Don’t compare a history professor in a university to Rav Shteinman.”

To simply call him a “history professor” is degrading a major talmid chacham. He may be the single greatest living authority on the history of halachah. That he didn’t decide to become a rosh yeshiva or a posek has nothing to do with the validity of his writing, which is legendary for its throroughness.