Feb 25
seen from United States
seen from Indonesia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Vietnam
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
The story of Pesach, of the Exodus from Egypt, is one of the oldest and greatest in the world. It tells of how one people, long ago, experienced oppression and were led to liberty through a long and arduous journey across the desert. It is the most dramatic story of slavery to freedom ever told, …
To truly be free, we must understand what it means to not be free. Yet ‘freedom’ itself has different dimensions, a point reflected in the two Hebrew words used to describe it, chofesh and cherut. Chofesh is ‘freedom from’, cherut is ‘freedom to’. Chofesh is what a slave acquires when released from slavery. He or she is free from being subject to someone else’s will. But this kind of liberty is not enough to create a free society. A world in which everyone is free to do what they like begins in anarchy and ends in tyranny. That is why chofesh is only the beginning of freedom, not its ultimate destination.
Cherut is collective freedom, a society in which my freedom respects yours. A free society is always a moral achievement. It rests on self-restraint and regard for others. The ultimate aim of Torah is to fashion a society on the foundations of justice and compassion, both of which depend on recognising the sovereignty of God and the integrity of creation. Thus we say, ‘Next year may we all be bnei chorin,’ invoking cherut not chofesh. It means, ‘May we be free in a way that honours the freedom of all’.
A KosherSwitch unit shown installed alongside a traditional Shabbat clock/timer in Santa Cruz, California; 2016. x
The KosherSwitch is an item used by some Jewish people to allow them to turn on and off outlets on Shabbat. As electricity is forbidden to turn on and off on Shabbat, the KosherSwitch is supposed to solve this through its design. The KosherSwitch is a piece of plastic that blocks an electrical pulse. When the piece of plastic is up, it doesn’t block the electrical pulse and the pulse, which is triggered by an algorithm if a number in a specific range is calculated by the KosherSwitch, makes a connection with a light receiver, that is also only triggered by a number in a specific range. Not all Rabbinical authorities accept the KosherSwitch as permissible to use on Shabbat; the Orthodox Union has refused to endorse it and Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, among others, wrote against using it on Shabbat. For more Rabbinical perspectives regarding the KosherSwitch, click here.
Shabbat Shalom from all of us at the Jewish Virtual Library!
Do you know any sources that I can learn about the subclasses (branches?) of Judaism?
Hi anon,
Each of their respective websites are great resources. The following organizations I personally consider to be the vibrancy that is Progressive Judaism.
Modern Orthodox (The Orthodox Union)
Conservative Judaism (The United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism)
Reconstructionist Judaism
Reform Judaism (The Union for Reform Judaism)
The World Union for Progressive Judaism (representing all Reform and Reconstructionist Congregations around the world)
“ReformJudaism.org” is a fabulous resource
Religious Action Center, the “social justice hub” of the Reform Movement
Jewish Renewal
If you have any further questions about the major branches, please do not hesitate to send me a private or direct message.
PJ
The Orthodox Union has adopted a psak that the position of rabbi constitutes one of serarah(communal power), and therefore, according to the Rambam(Hilchot Milachim 1:5), women cannot hold those positions. According to the Rambam, converts cant either, so the next step is for the OU to ban semicha and shul rabbinate for converts. If the OU was actually taking the Rambam seriously, they would have read further in Hilchot Milachim(1:7) where it says: all positions of serarah are inherited by son after son forever. And, serarah jobs are lifelong appointments. When the OU tells it's shuls that the all OU rabbis have to be hired for life and get to pass on the job to their kids I will believe they actually are paskening like the Rambam. Until then, they are just using the Rambam to pick on women. Also, I hope the sparse Orthodox women clergy resist this. Stay strong.
Executive Vice President of Orthodox Union makes urgent appeal to Lithuanian President to prevent desecration of Jewish cemetery
NEW YORK (September 25, 2020) - In an urgent communication, the Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union (OU), Rabbi Moshe Hauer has made a pressing plea to the President of the Republic of Lithuania, the Honorable Gitanas Nauseda, expressing the OU's forceful opposition to the development of a conference center, on the old cemetery in Shnipishok, Vilnius.
Rabbi Hauer states, "The Old Jewish Cemetery contains the remains of thousands of Jewish residents of Vilnius, with gravestones dated as early as 1487. Amongst those buried in this historic site are some of Vilnius’ greatest authors, whose works are studied to this very day by the many thousands of students in the Talmudic academies – established to perpetuate the Lithuanian Talmudic scholarly tradition - here in the United States, in the State of Israel, and the world over."
The letter underscores the widespread international opposition which has been voiced, since the Government of the Republic of Lithuania together with Turto Bankas and the City Council of Vilnius announced their plan to build the conference center.
In his letter Rabbi Hauer states, "This plan has been opposed and denounced by Jewish leadership the world over. It represents an affront to the international Jewish community and our historic heritage and is a violation of basic human dignity. It has thus been opposed not only by the Jewish community, but by Senators and members of Congress of the United States."
The letter is significant because as Rabbi Hauer states, "The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America - is the largest umbrella organization of orthodox synagogues and affiliated agencies and groups in the United States and Canada. Our members, over 400,000 individuals, are located across the United States and the world and are active in all aspects of civic and political life. Our leadership meets regularly with bipartisan members of Congress as well as with White House officials, and we are engaged on an ongoing basis on issues involving domestic and international affairs."
In a separate turn of events the Congress of European Rabbis (CER) and the auspicious Rabbi Nissim Korelitz's rabbinical court in Bnei Brak, officially revoked the authority of the CPJCE (Committee for Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe) to act on behalf of the European Jewish community. See FULL DETAILS.
The CPJCE originally provided the developers of the proposed conference center with a green light for the project. An agreement was inked by which the CPJCE would supervise construction of the conference center. That supervision, the CPJCE claimed, would ensure that the developers complied with Jewish law and heritage considerations, as required under Lithuanian law.
Because the announcement by the CER and ruling by the rabbinical court precludes the CPJCE from conducting any communication with the Lithuanian government and bans the committee from participating in the development, the CPJCE has effectively been removed from the equation. As Lithuanian law demands that the cemetery, a protected site, requires that developers comply with Heritage Protection considerations, the exit of CPJCE as the governing ombudsman, renders the development unlawful.
The notion that a conference center could be developed on a Jewish cemetery is at the outset, prohibited in Jewish law. Therefore, the CPJCE's proposal raised eyebrows and wide spread condemnation.
About Save Vilna:
Save Vilna is an action group aimed at preventing Jewish cemetery desecration, antisemitism, human rights violations at the old cemetery in Shnipishok, Vilnius.
For more information, please visit https://www.savevilna.org
Writer: Jonus Norkus
Email: [email protected]
###
Top immunologist on White House task force tells Orthodox Union to take small steps toward reopening in-person services, warns risk likely to continue into High Holidays in fall
The Orthodox Union, through its advocacy operation Teach Coalition, has fought for security funding on the national, state and city levels.