Rav Aaron Leibowitz and Rav Mike Feuer speak on the subject of trust and kashrut at the Sulam Yaakov Yom Iyun.
Sing and Learn in honor of R’ Shlomo Carlebach
October 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Join us at Moishe House this Wednesday evening on the Yahrtzeit of Reb Shlomo Carlebach to celebrate his life, his Torah, his songs and his stories.. Led by R” Aaron.
For details: http://
www.facebook.com/events/283041905148850/
New Video
October 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Rav Mike Radio Interview
October 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Rav Mike Feuer was interview by Yishai Fleisher Radio. Here is the link:
http://yishaifleisher.com/radio/radio-gaining-strength-to-build-the-land-of-israel/
Kings and Courts by Rabbi Mike Feuer
October 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Every people needs a structure, and Am Yisrael is just like everybody else – only more so. In his 11th derasha, the Ran explores the relationship between the King and the Bet Din in light of this and other fundamental assumptions. His delineation of the purpose and purview of each raises questions on the role the Torah can play in shaping our society and the world.
The purpose of bet din is to articulate the truth and glory of the Torah. In pursuit of tzedek, they bring an uncompromising standard for true consciousness and guide for behavior into the world. A people built on such a foundation become the channel for Gd’s abundance to flow into the world. While the laws of the Torah may have relevance to shaping society, their primary purpose is to articulate the Divine will, even to the detriment of social order. The absolute nature of such truth means that it may hover over the head of everyday reality, lacking the grounding needed to shape our collective existence.
The role of the King is להשלים, to complete (or perhaps provide) the societal context for this pursuit. If the bet din is hobbled by unconditional truth, unable to address the needs of the hour, the king must assert mishpat and put the world in order. Unconstrained by the limitations of truth, the temptations for the king to serve his own power are severe. Thus the Torah binds him with commandments meant to check his desires and turn his heart toward Gd.
The first appearance of tzedek in the Torah is the demand for just weights and measures, and immediately preceding it is the command that Israel not pervert mishpat.[1] These two concepts co-exist in order that society function. Tzedek is the exacting standard by which we judge, and the vision we pursue. Mishpat is the process of judgment which brings individuals and society into line with this ideal. Without a measure by which to guide itself, society is adrift in a sea of relativism[2]. And without a process for constantly iterating experience and examining reality in light of vision (and vice versa) idealism devolves into narrow fundamentalism.
The bet din must pursue truth relentlessly, and through their devotion cultivate the authority to speak that truth to the hearts of Am Yisrael and the world. The malchut must hold the space for this struggle, expanding and contracting to fit the burden of the past, the needs of the present and our aspirations for the future.
On the day that Nevuchadnezzar burned the Temple, malchut passed into the hands of the nations. It was no longer the social context for the truth of Gd, but rather the primary organizing principle for society. The elevation of social order to an intrinsic value shaped the history of kings and their wars, and reached its idolatrous logical conclusion in 20th century fascism – with all its disastrous consequences.
When the smoke cleared over Europe, there was new a center point around which Western society coalesced; consumerism succeeded kingship as the rule of many rose over the few[3]. It seems to me that this to has almost run its course as a value which can give structure to society, and it behooves us to contemplate the next wave before the current one eats the ground out from under us.
Where is malchut today in Am Yisrael, and what is the role of bet din? I invite your thoughts as we explore these questions in the coming weeks.
[1] Vayikra 19:35-36. There are plenty of usages of the 3 letter root before this, but this form offers a definitive sense of what tzedek is
[2] And don’t forget – הבור רק אין בו מים no water, but yes snakes and scorpions. There is no social vacuum – without an organizing value (explicit or implicit) for society, the baser sides of human nature tend to assert themselves
[3] In the same way the flaws of flesh and blood kingship were already present in Am YIsrael well before the first exile, so to political economy had begun to replace political philosophy in the minds of many centuries before WWII. Nevertheless, take a look at the impact of the Bretton Woods Conference, the Marshall Plan, the Truman Highway program in shaping the world we live in
Video: Rav Daniel Kohn on Teshuva. Text:Maharal
September 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Rav Aaron Scholar in Residence at Inward Bound retreat in the Pocono mountains on Labor Day weekend.
August 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Video – Rav Daniel’s first Pnimiyut shiur
August 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Rav Aaron’s latest opinion item on Haaretz.com
August 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Participant blogs about R Mikes lecture, R Mike responds.
August 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment
See http://jamieinjerusalem.blogspot.co.il/2012/07/jewish-time-or-carl-sagans-glorious-new.html for a participants blog post inspired by Rav Mike Feur’s lecture.
Here is Rav Mikes written response:
Galut and Geulah – Exile and Return
Only return brings consciousness to exile – be it the return to essential self that helps us identify alienation or the sense of proper place that locates us as a wandering people. We are now living through the third return and it is worth considering what facets of redemption the first two revealed in order to seek our face in this one.
When Bnei Yisrael came up into the Land promised to our fathers, it was conquest which paved the way for return. In war we planted the shoot of a people which had sprouted at Sinai; the fact that its roots were watered by the blood of the nations was simply derech eretz – the way of the world. At this time, the power of the outstretched hand of Gd shown in the redemption from Egypt threatened to sweep exile from our memory entirely. After 480 years the national vessel gained the capacity to hold the Presence, and King Shlomo built the Holy Temple. Now, dwelling in intimacy with Gd, exile was a distant a memory – despite the Torah’s plea that we remember slavery. We the people descended into blood, lust and confusion and the wheel of history turned. Gd sent the Babylonians to burn His house, and the first sanctification[1], built by the sword, was uprooted through the sword as well.
When the Jews came up from Bavel, back to the Land we had left, it was at the behest of Cyrus the Great. He declared our return, and we heard Gd’s voice telling us to go up. We acquired the Land under the aegis of the powers of the world, and they agreed it was ours. Ezra, Nechemia and the Great Assembly built walls for body and soul, and labored to establish our home on firm foundations. For four hundred and twenty years the Holy Temple stood, but empty of the unifying Presence. The consciousness of exile was a shadow history threw over the present, adding depth in our relationship to the hidden Gd. When the center could not hold, despite the glorious achievements of our Sages, the wheel turned again. Gd raised up Rome and we were once more scattered. But the second sanctification held. We left behind an impression on the nations, on the Land, in our consciousness; because where is a Jew from if not Judea[2]?
And now the Nation of Israel has come up from the four corners of the world again, by any means necessary. Conquest and acquisition have given us where to stand in relation to the nations. Now we need to think about where we stand in relation to Gd. The innocence of first love died in Bavel, and the passionate pursuit of our Beloved carried us to the four corners of modernity. Now it is time for the wholeness of mature relationship with self, other, Gd and the world. Exile and return, sin and teshuva, brokenness and repair – perhaps this is the dynamic that can help create the bui8lding that will last forever.
