Not long ago someone near and dear to me asked me what I was working on. I said that I was writing a book proving that for Rambam Gentiles as well as Jews are fully created in the image of God. I was met with the amazed response: "Do you really believe that?!"
Yes, I really believe it, and so did Rambam. [1]
I was born into a first-generation American family of very ethnic but non-observant Jews in the then Jewishly dense West Philadelphia neighborhood of Wynnefield. My parents assumed that I would attend Hebrew School after public school, hate it, and, like their peer’s children, suffer with Jewish learning for five arduous years, endure the bar mitzvah ordeal, then quit Hebrew school. They expected that as a young adult I would marry an ethnic but not inconveniently religious Jewish woman. My parents’ social circle was entirely Jewish—totally secular—yet socially Jewish.
In assessing the future of Orthodoxy, it is important to remember we are considering only 10 percent of the American Jewish population as of the latest American Jewish census.[1] Orthodoxy is no larger than it was 15 years ago at last official count.[2] The only historical antecedent that American Jewry has in terms of assimilation and the rise of modern Jewish denominations in a Western country was pre-War Germany.
In a deeply personal account of the impact of Donald Trump's presidential candidacy upon his network of professional and social relationships, the conservative academic Tom Nichols leveled an eyebrow-raising assertion. "Trump is worse than Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama," Nichols wrote [1] . "Their policies are liberal, even leftist, often motivated by cheap politics, ego, and political grandstanding. But they are policies, understandable as such and opposable by political means."
Rabbi Hayyim Angel
To our members and friends,
I hope you have been enjoying a wonderful Pesah. Here are some upcoming highlights for our Institute’s classes and programs:
We are excited to present our next major highlight: On Sunday May 15, 10:00am-1:00pm: We will be having our next Symposium co-sponsored by the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals and Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun: “Bringing Peace Through Torah: Among the Orthodox, Among Jews, and to the World.” This symposium will feature three talks:
(On March 4, 2016, a Conference was held at the United Nations: “Religious Pluralism and Tolerance: The Bahrain Model.” It was held under the sponsorship of the Kingdom of Bahrain, which prides itself on tolerance to citizens of its religious minorities. The Conference was opened by H.E. Dr. Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, the Undersecretary of International Affairs of the Bahrain Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Participants in the Conference included representatives of various religions and countries, as well as members of the American government.
Rabbi Hayyim Angel
April, 2016
To our members and friends,
It has been remarkable to reach so many people, communities and educators over the course of this year through our classes, programs, and Online Learning of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals. Here are some upcoming highlights:
January, 2016
To our members and friends, I hope you are well. It has been gratifying reaching so many people through classes and online offerings through our Institute. We thank all who are supporters and members and who have been participating in the wide variety of learning opportunities as we spread our vision across the country and beyond.
Here are some upcoming highlights for January-February:
Shabbat January 15-16: I will be the scholar-in-residence at the Kemp Mill Synagogue, Silver Spring, Maryland (11910 Kemp Mill Rd). Free and open to the public.
I will begin by presenting a fictitious case, closer perhaps to current halakhic
reality in certain circles than many would like to believe: