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Rabbi Marc D. Angel

ESSAY CONTEST: Making Orthodox Synagogues More Meaningful

We thank all those who shared their ideas on how to make Orthodox synagogues more meaningful. We've chosen SEVEN winners. Their suggestions can help our synagogues and communities be stronger, more creative, more engaging. The winning essays are from Pam Ehrenkranz (Stamford, Connecticut); Yael Kassorla (Atlanta, Georgia); Dr. Alan Krinsky (Providence, Rhode Island); Rabbi Arnold Samlan (West Hempstead, New York); Barbara Mendes (Los Angeles, California); Leonard Stein (Beer Sheva, Israel); and Hinda Bramnick (Boca Raton, Florida).

We hope that you discuss these suggestions among friends and congregants.

Let us work together for an intellectually vibrant, compassionate and inclusive Orthodox Judaism.

 

 

 

 

Conversion to Judaism: Halakha, Hashkafa, and Historic Challenge

Rabbi Marc D. Angel is Founder and Director of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, and Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Shearith Israel. Author and editor of 30 books, he wrote "Choosing to Be Jewish: The Orthodox Road to Conversion" available through the online store of our website jewishideas.org.  This article is reprinted with permission from Hakirah: The Flatbush Journal of Jewish Law and Thought, Volume 7, Winter 2009. It also appeared in issue 12 of Conversations, the Journal of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals.

The Jewish community underwent cataclysmic changes during the course of the nineteenth century. While most of world Jewry was religiously observant in 1800, a large majority were no longer devoted to halakhic tradition by 1900. Nineteenth-century Orthodox rabbinic leadership had to cope with the rise of Reform Judaism, the spread of Haskala, the breakdown of communal authority over its members, the defection of Jews from Torah and mitzvoth-and from Judaism altogether.

Has God "Relocated" from Our Synagogues?

My dear and respected friend, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo, recently wrote an article about the "relocation" of God. Here is an excerpt from that article.

Eulogy for an Arab Martyr

This essay was written by Rabbi Marc D. Angel in November 1990, and was published as an op-ed piece in various newspapers at that time. Unfortunately, the message of this essay continues to ring true today.

A pro-Syrian Lebanese young woman, F. H. G., undertook a suicide mission in order to kill Israelis. She, like many before her and after her, was willing to sacrifice life in order to murder Jews. What led her to this horrible act that also resulted in her own violent death? Was it hatred, frustration, nationalism? Was she simply mentally deranged?

A young Arab woman is dead, along with her innocent Israeli victims. Perhaps if she had been born somewhere else or in another era, she--and her victims--would have lived full lives. But she was born in the Middle East and grew up in a whirlpool of hatred. So she, and so many other young men and women before her--Arab and Israeli--have died.

The Conversion Crisis

This article appears in Haaretz, February 8, 2013: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/converts-to-judaism-are-victims-of-israel-s-insulting-and-cruel-rabbinate.premium-1.502333

Reflections on the Conversion Crisis and the Rabbanut.
By Rabbi Marc D. Angel

(Rabbi Angel is Founder and Director of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals (jewishideas.org); and Rabbi Emeritus of the historic Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of New York City, founded 1654. Author and editor of 31 books, he is Past President of the Rabbinical Council of America (Orthodox), and a co-founder of the International Rabbinic Fellowship, an association of modern Orthodox rabbis.)

Salaries of Executives in Jewish not-for-profit organizations: Thinking about our Charity Dollars.

The "Forward" (December 10, 2012) has published an article listing the salaries of executives in Jewish not-for-profit organizations. Eighteen of these individuals are earning over $400,000 per year, with the top salary at over $879,000. When the "Forward" published its report last December, I wrote the following Angel for Shabbat column. It seems to be just as relevant today as it was then...perhaps moreso.

Prudence in Good Times and Bad: Thoughts for Parashat Mikkets
By Rabbi Marc D. Angel

Thanks to Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams, the Egyptians were spared a terrible calamity. Joseph offered a plan whereby the Egyptians could store produce of the seven years of abundance, so that they would have food during the following seven years of famine.

End of Year Campaign: Please Contribute Now

Autumn 2012

THE INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH IDEAS AND IDEALS NEEDS YOU! Thank you for your support and encouragement. You have helped the Institute in its work to foster an intellectually vibrant, compassionate and inclusive Orthodox Judaism. PLEASE KEEP THE INSTITUTE IN MIND WHEN YOU MAKE YOUR END-OF-YEAR CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS.

***We have an active and informative website, jewishideas.org, reaching many thousands of readers throughout the world
***We have published 14 issues of our journal, Conversations, creating a tremendous amount of intellectual excitement throughout the community
***We have a University Network, through which we provide publications and guidance to students free of charge, and with 27 Campus Fellows on 21 campuses

Controversies at the Kotel: A Suggestion

The Jerusalem Post and other media reported that a leader of "Women of the Wall" was arrested at the Kotel in Jerusalem for raising her voice in song and prayer. She, together with a group of hundreds of women, have been attempting to gain the right for women to pray at the Kotel, each according to her preferred style of prayer--with prayer shawls, chanting aloud, reading from the Torah etc.

The arrested woman was kept in prison overnight, and complained that she was treated as though she were a notorious and dangerous criminal.

Rabbi Kook and Rabbi Uziel: Two Posekim, Two Approaches

This article by Rabbi Marc D. Angel was originally published in Mishpetei Shalom: A Jubilee Volume in Honor of Rabbi Saul (Shalom) Berman, ed. Yamin Levy, NY: YCT, 2010; and reprinted in issue 12 of Conversations, the journal of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals.

When addressing a halakhic question, each posek (halakhic decisor) attempts to arrive at a decision that is objectively true. The posek will study and analyze the available halakhic literature, with the goal of understanding the halakha as clearly and accurately as possible.

Summer Update from the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals

Shalom and best wishes. I hope you are having a good summer. Thank you for your continued friendship, support and encouragement. Here are a few items that should be of interest to members and friends of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals.

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