Tanakh is not a systematic theology, science, or history. We treat nearly all of Tanakh as historical, but God did not reveal prophecies to the prophets in order to teach science or history. God is speaking to us, and it is our religious obligation to hear, understand, and listen to that voice. We take all of the texts seriously, even if some of them may be understood as non-literal.
Genetic disease testing panels have expanded from just Tay-Sachs to include many more diseases common in Ashkenazi Jews, as well as those common in people with Sephardi and Mizrahi ancestry. These advances make screening relevant for Jews of all backgrounds, converts who do not have Jewish background, and people who do not know their ancestry.
Rav Saban, like Rav Uziel, sought reasonable halakhic solutions to contemporary problems. Voices like theirs are very much needed today.
Rabbi Yamin Levy attended the wedding of a young couple, both raised in a strong Orthodox Sephardic community, yet religiously influenced by Chabad and Breslav. Their attempt at creating a ceremony that was true to their Sephardic heritage and reflected the Ashkenazic/Hassidic traditions of their rabbis inspired the writing of this essay.
The Jewish Press has a bi-weekly feature in which questions are asked to a group of rabbis. Rabbi Marc D. Angel is one of the respondents and here are his answers to several of the recent questions.
Rabbi Hayyim AngeI recently published a book review in the Fall, 2019 issue of Tradition (the journal of the Rabbinical Council of America) on Rabbi Yonatan Grossman's new book on Genesis chapters 1-11. He combines classical commentary with modern literary analysis.
Review Essay
One of our Institute's core mission projects is our University Network, through which we reach hundreds of university students across North America and beyond. We send journals, electronic resources, and other materials to these thoughtful students so that they can engage with high-level content as they build their own religious identities. Our Campus Fellows have been running a wide variety of programs to engage students of all backgrounds.
Rabbi Hayyiim Angel offers important insights on the Prophet Malachi and on the nature of prophecy itself. Rabbi H. Angel's book on Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi can be ordered through the online store of our Institute https://www.jewishideas.org/haggai-zechariah-and-malachi-prophecy-age-un...
Rav Benzion Meir Hai Uziel and Rav Ovadia Yosef were two towering figures of the twentieth-century Sephardic rabbinical world. They seem to share much in common. Yet a closer look at their worldviews marks a sharp distinction in two important areas: 1) the definition of a posek (rabbinic decisor of Jewish law), and 2) the Sephardi-Ashkenazi divide.
The opening of Lekh Lekha raises numerous questions. Why did God choose Avraham? Why was it necessary to choose anyone? Why does the focus of Sefer Bereshit suddenly shift from a broad universal focus to a narrow, particularistic one?
