considers the extent to which Modern Orthodoxy is dependent on retaining financial and educationa... more considers the extent to which Modern Orthodoxy is dependent on retaining financial and educational social status-markers
"A magazine of Jewish thought dedicated to sparking the discussion of Jewish issues on the Y... more "A magazine of Jewish thought dedicated to sparking the discussion of Jewish issues on the Yeshiva University campus."
Women's Rights and Religious Law Domestic and International Perspectives, 2016
Rabbinic legal tradition, known as Halakhah, self-understands as an organic outgrowth of Torah wh... more Rabbinic legal tradition, known as Halakhah, self-understands as an organic outgrowth of Torah whose existence and authority are recognized by Torah. The Emancipation, Jews were treated by almost all states as a separate political community within the non-Jewish state rather than as part of a politically undifferentiated citizenry. Negotiating jurisdiction generally involved carving out spheres where the state would support the autonomous operation of Jewish law. The democratic secular state's regulations regarding those ancillary issues tend to track the changing ethical and practical opinions of secular society. The upshot is that all contemporary Jewish divorces involve both the rabbinic and the secular courts, whether directly or by implication. The secular legal system claims primary jurisdiction over any matter of divorce that it is not precluded from, without regard to the jurisdictional claims of the Jewish legal system. Jewish law gives rabbinic courts primary jurisdiction in all cases where both parties are Jewish, regardless of the civil or political setting.
The written modification of a paper on Rabbi Joseph B Soloveitchik's essay Confrontation,... more The written modification of a paper on Rabbi Joseph B Soloveitchik's essay Confrontation, originally delivered at the Boston College Symposium and published online on the site of BC's Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding/
Judaism recognizes multiple kinds of value. The modern reduction of all values to ethics impoveri... more Judaism recognizes multiple kinds of value. The modern reduction of all values to ethics impoverishes us axiologically. This is an effort to reclaim holiness as an independent source of value.
Standard constructions of the debate assume that ethics favor recognition of brain death to enabl... more Standard constructions of the debate assume that ethics favor recognition of brain death to enable transplants, while formal religious law opposes it. It also assumed that the only way to enable many transplants is to recognize brain death as death. This article challenges all these assumptions. Published in Halakhic Realities: Collected Essays on Brain Death, vol. 2
Discusses the history of halakhic responses to the possibility that niddah-observance can cause i... more Discusses the history of halakhic responses to the possibility that niddah-observance can cause infertility, with some practical conclusions
Are the lives of civilians worth more than those of soldiers in wartime? The assumption that civi... more Are the lives of civilians worth more than those of soldiers in wartime? The assumption that civilian lives are worth more is built into the moral critiques emanating from both sides of the conflict in Gaza. To bolster these critiques, civilians are described as " innocent " , with the implication that soldiers are – by definition – " guilty ". The underlying argument is that endangering civilians is wrong because they are innocent, and targeting soldiers is legitimate because they are guilty. Every step of this argument is wrong. Identifying and correcting the errors is vital to developing an ethics and a law of war that are practical guides for the conduct of conscience-driven armies, rather than being additional weapons in the hands of their anethical opponents. In particular, we need to identify and correct the ways in which this argument distorts the " doctrine of proportionality ". The distortion I will identify in this article is the application of the doctrine to cases where a military action is undertaken in order to protect the civilians of one side against deliberate attack from the other.
Part of a series on the role of charisma in Jewish political theory and law. Argues that there ... more Part of a series on the role of charisma in Jewish political theory and law. Argues that there must be a limit on the authority of even verified prophets beyond predictive error
Reevaluates Professor Halbertal's claims that Meiri's position was halakhically productive and th... more Reevaluates Professor Halbertal's claims that Meiri's position was halakhically productive and that Chirsitianity itself is not halakhic Avodah Zarah by comprehensively reading and classifying all the relevant texts in Meiri.
An intellectual history approach to a core issue of Halakhic political theory. Examines Tanakh, ... more An intellectual history approach to a core issue of Halakhic political theory. Examines Tanakh, Mishnah, Talmud, Rambam, and R. Zvi Hirsh Chajes.
What does the Tzitz Eliezer say about the halakhic implications of surgery intended to change the... more What does the Tzitz Eliezer say about the halakhic implications of surgery intended to change the sex of the patient?
INTRODUCTION This essay is devoted to a purely conceptual " Brisker " account of the Rav's analys... more INTRODUCTION This essay is devoted to a purely conceptual " Brisker " account of the Rav's analysis, in many contexts, of classical semikhah and eligibility for the same1. If this analysis survives critique, a subsequent essay will place it in the context of a central theme of the Rav's philosophic work. If that analysis as well emerges recognizably from critique, a third and last essay will draw tentative but concrete implications for contemporary practice with regard to eligibility for semikhah, and humbly submit them for critique.
considers the extent to which Modern Orthodoxy is dependent on retaining financial and educationa... more considers the extent to which Modern Orthodoxy is dependent on retaining financial and educational social status-markers
"A magazine of Jewish thought dedicated to sparking the discussion of Jewish issues on the Y... more "A magazine of Jewish thought dedicated to sparking the discussion of Jewish issues on the Yeshiva University campus."
Women's Rights and Religious Law Domestic and International Perspectives, 2016
Rabbinic legal tradition, known as Halakhah, self-understands as an organic outgrowth of Torah wh... more Rabbinic legal tradition, known as Halakhah, self-understands as an organic outgrowth of Torah whose existence and authority are recognized by Torah. The Emancipation, Jews were treated by almost all states as a separate political community within the non-Jewish state rather than as part of a politically undifferentiated citizenry. Negotiating jurisdiction generally involved carving out spheres where the state would support the autonomous operation of Jewish law. The democratic secular state's regulations regarding those ancillary issues tend to track the changing ethical and practical opinions of secular society. The upshot is that all contemporary Jewish divorces involve both the rabbinic and the secular courts, whether directly or by implication. The secular legal system claims primary jurisdiction over any matter of divorce that it is not precluded from, without regard to the jurisdictional claims of the Jewish legal system. Jewish law gives rabbinic courts primary jurisdiction in all cases where both parties are Jewish, regardless of the civil or political setting.
The written modification of a paper on Rabbi Joseph B Soloveitchik's essay Confrontation,... more The written modification of a paper on Rabbi Joseph B Soloveitchik's essay Confrontation, originally delivered at the Boston College Symposium and published online on the site of BC's Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding/
Judaism recognizes multiple kinds of value. The modern reduction of all values to ethics impoveri... more Judaism recognizes multiple kinds of value. The modern reduction of all values to ethics impoverishes us axiologically. This is an effort to reclaim holiness as an independent source of value.
Standard constructions of the debate assume that ethics favor recognition of brain death to enabl... more Standard constructions of the debate assume that ethics favor recognition of brain death to enable transplants, while formal religious law opposes it. It also assumed that the only way to enable many transplants is to recognize brain death as death. This article challenges all these assumptions. Published in Halakhic Realities: Collected Essays on Brain Death, vol. 2
Discusses the history of halakhic responses to the possibility that niddah-observance can cause i... more Discusses the history of halakhic responses to the possibility that niddah-observance can cause infertility, with some practical conclusions
Are the lives of civilians worth more than those of soldiers in wartime? The assumption that civi... more Are the lives of civilians worth more than those of soldiers in wartime? The assumption that civilian lives are worth more is built into the moral critiques emanating from both sides of the conflict in Gaza. To bolster these critiques, civilians are described as " innocent " , with the implication that soldiers are – by definition – " guilty ". The underlying argument is that endangering civilians is wrong because they are innocent, and targeting soldiers is legitimate because they are guilty. Every step of this argument is wrong. Identifying and correcting the errors is vital to developing an ethics and a law of war that are practical guides for the conduct of conscience-driven armies, rather than being additional weapons in the hands of their anethical opponents. In particular, we need to identify and correct the ways in which this argument distorts the " doctrine of proportionality ". The distortion I will identify in this article is the application of the doctrine to cases where a military action is undertaken in order to protect the civilians of one side against deliberate attack from the other.
Part of a series on the role of charisma in Jewish political theory and law. Argues that there ... more Part of a series on the role of charisma in Jewish political theory and law. Argues that there must be a limit on the authority of even verified prophets beyond predictive error
Reevaluates Professor Halbertal's claims that Meiri's position was halakhically productive and th... more Reevaluates Professor Halbertal's claims that Meiri's position was halakhically productive and that Chirsitianity itself is not halakhic Avodah Zarah by comprehensively reading and classifying all the relevant texts in Meiri.
An intellectual history approach to a core issue of Halakhic political theory. Examines Tanakh, ... more An intellectual history approach to a core issue of Halakhic political theory. Examines Tanakh, Mishnah, Talmud, Rambam, and R. Zvi Hirsh Chajes.
What does the Tzitz Eliezer say about the halakhic implications of surgery intended to change the... more What does the Tzitz Eliezer say about the halakhic implications of surgery intended to change the sex of the patient?
INTRODUCTION This essay is devoted to a purely conceptual " Brisker " account of the Rav's analys... more INTRODUCTION This essay is devoted to a purely conceptual " Brisker " account of the Rav's analysis, in many contexts, of classical semikhah and eligibility for the same1. If this analysis survives critique, a subsequent essay will place it in the context of a central theme of the Rav's philosophic work. If that analysis as well emerges recognizably from critique, a third and last essay will draw tentative but concrete implications for contemporary practice with regard to eligibility for semikhah, and humbly submit them for critique.
The second sugya in Talmud Shavuot suggests an explanation of the Mishnah that is, as it eventua... more The second sugya in Talmud Shavuot suggests an explanation of the Mishnah that is, as it eventually concludes, against the explicit text of the Mishnah. Why? I suggest that the Talmud is using the Mishnah as a mnemonic, and that this may offer an explanation of many other cases of doheq readings in the Talmud.
The written modification of a paper on Rabbi Joseph B Soloveitchik's essay Confrontation, origina... more The written modification of a paper on Rabbi Joseph B Soloveitchik's essay Confrontation, originally delivered at the Boston College Symposium and published online on the site of BC's Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding/
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