Rabbi Alan Yuter, a highly respected American Orthodox rabbi, went on Aliyah with his wife upon his retirement. They currently reside in Jerusalem. Rabbi Yuter is associated with the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding, affiliated with Ohr Torah Stone, Efrat, Israel.
This engaging monograph is a deceptively simple read. Written in a disciplined, clear diction, Rabbi Zvi Grumet writes and teaches like a High School Yeshiva rebbe, unflinchingly focusing on the received Torah’s text and message[s], as lucidly and probingly as he can, so that his student/reader may understand his content and internalize the Torah’s normative message. The superficially scholarly reader will likely be disappointed because Grumet avoids all jargon, esotericisms, and technical terms that might confuse, distract, or otherwise disturb the targeted “non-academic” Orthodox reader. He is not writing to, or for, the secular scholarly community, at least as his first audience. Read more
Review of "Nehalel"--an amazing new Siddur
Rabbi Alan Yuter, a highly respected American Orthodox rabbi, went on Aliyah with his wife last year upon his retirement. They currently reside in Jerusalem. Rabbi Yuter is currently associated with the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding, affiliated with Ohr Torah Stone, Efrat, Israel.
The "Nehalel" Siddur is available through nehalel.com; it also may be ordered through Ktav Publishing House. In Praise of Praising Together - A review essay in Praise of Nehalel (Jerusalem: Nevarech, 2013) By Rabbi Alan Yuter This engaging Siddur is the post-modern expression of a thoughtful, educated, worldly, urbane, and religiously sensitive modern Orthodox lay person. The Siddur’s magic lies in the originality of its concept, the personal voice that provides an Everyman’s perspective as expressed by one thinking and feeling individual, and the public sharing of one person’s personal response to prayer. Read more
Why is the Name of God not Mentioned in Megillat Esther?
Rabbi Alan Yuter served for many years in congregations in the United States. Last year, he and his wife made Aliyah, where he continues to study, teach and write. He works with the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding, affiliated with Ohr Torah Stone, Efrat, Israel.
Why in Megillat Esther is the name of God not mentioned even once, considering that it was the hand of God that altered a near catastrophe for the Jewish people living in Persia? Read more
Rabbi Alan Yuter is Rabbi of Congregation B'nai Israel, the Orthodox Jewish congregation of downtown Baltimore.
Culture When we walk in on the Streets of Boro Park. NY, or Park Heights, Baltimore, Md., we see some Orthodox men walking on the street with beards during the seven weeks between the Passover and Shavuot holidays. This season Is taken to be a period of mourning which seems to require a seasonal beard as well as a prohibition of music. According to the ultra-Orthodox decisor and spokesman, R. Yisroel Belsky Read more
The Kashrut of Being Extra Kosher
by Rabbi Alan Yuter
Question: When is it proper to be extra strict in the observance of the kosher laws? Consider: 1. Show devotion to Heaven by being extra strict 2. Public policy requires that rabbis and people who are viewed as more religious act and play the part as virtuosi of piety; rabbis who are lenient with themselves undermine public piety. 3. We should respect the sensibilities of the rabbis and laypeople who are extra strict Read more
Questioning the Status of a Halakhic Conversion is anti-Halakhic and Unethical
Rabbi Yuter is the Rabbi of B'nai Israel, the Orthodox congregation of downtown Baltimore.
Question: What is the status of the 'extra' conversion immersion [tevila leHumra] demanded by some Orthodox rabbis? Answer: 1. The minimum standard required by Jewish law is that the rabbinical court consist of three observant laymen. Once the convert is accepted by the court, the conversion takes effect and without cause, may not be called into question. 2. a. The converting rabbinical court may include Orthodox rabbis who are themselves converts. [Hoshen Mishpat 7:1] Rabbis need not go through hoops to forbid the permitted on the part of parochials who either do not know or do not accept Jewish law. Read more
Rabbi Yuter is the rabbi of B'nai Israel, the Orthodox synagogue of downtown Baltimore.
Real Orthodox Jews Reject Religious Coercion Read more
The Abortion Rhetoric Within Orthodox Judaism: Consensus, Conviction, Covenant
Rabbi Yuter is the Rabbi of B'nai Israel, the Orthodox synagogue of downtown Baltimore. He is a faculty member in the department of Bible and Jewish Law at the Institute for Traditional Judaism.
The abortion rhetoric provides the hermeneutic key whereby the contemporary contenders to the faith franchise called "Orthodox Judaism" reveal the moral essences of their alternative constructions of religious reality. At stake in this conversation is the meaning of Masorah, a culturally encrusted code word. According to the Judaism of the Rabbinic canon, or book-based Orthodox Judaism, it is the transmitted oral Torah as preserved for the collective of Israel in the public, vetted literature of the rabbis up to and including the Babylonian Talmud. Masorah is however also invoked as the retort of last resort to resolve the often occurring conflicts between the canonical Torah library and the living culture of affiliating Orthodox Jews. Read more
Conversions, Covenant and Conscience
Rabbi Alan Yuter Mara d'Atra of B'nai Israel, the Orthodox synagogue of downtown Baltimore. He is a faculty member in the department of Bible and Jewish Law at the Institute for Traditional Judaism. Read more