THE IMPORTANCE OF THE COMMUNITY RABBI: Leading with Compassionate Halachah
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THE IMPORTANCE OF THE COMMUNITY RABBI: Leading with Compassionate Halachah
by Rabbi Daniel Sperber
Foreword by Rabbi Dov Linzer and Chaim Trachtman MD
Hardcover, 367 Pages
Urim Publications, Lindenbaum Center for Halakhic Studies, 2020
ISBN: 978-965-524-238-6
The contemporary rabbi is influenced by the modern rabbinic establishments throughout the world, including the rabbinate in Israel. The rabbinate's monopoly on opinions and interpretations prevents rabbis from expressing their individual positions out of fear of delegitimization. The current structure gives the public a negative impression of the rabbinic establishment. The Importance of the Community Rabbi strives to describe and delineate key requirements for a good rabbi, i.e., one who can provide socially acceptable halachic solutions within the parameters of Orthodox thinking. Rabbi Sperber elucidates the halachic techniques and mechanisms that may be used toward this goal. These are further illustrated with stories from rabbinic literature and examples from various responsa.
About the Author:
Rabbi Professor Daniel Sperber is a leading scholar of Jewish law, customs, and ethics. He taught in the Talmud Department of Bar-Ilan University, where he also served as dean of the Faculty of Jewish Studies and president of the Jesselson Institute for Advanced Torah Studies. In 1992, he was awarded the Israel Prize for Jewish Studies. Prof. Sperber currently serves as rabbi of the Menachem Zion Synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The descendant of a line of distinguished Orthodox rabbis, Prof. Sperber was born in 1940 in a castle in Ruthin, Wales, and studied in the Yeshivot of Kol Torah and Hevron in Jerusalem. He earned a BA in art history at the Courtauld Institute of Art and received a PhD in classics, ancient history, and Hebrew studies from University College, London.
Prof. Sperber has published more than thirty books and four hundred articles on the subjects of Talmud and Jewish socio-economic history, law and customs, classical philology, and Jewish art. Among his major works is a well-known, eight-volume series, Minhagei Yisrael, on the history of Jewish customs. More recently, he has written books on halachic methodology and rabbinic decision-making in confrontation with modernity, and has established an independent beit din dealing with agunah issues. He is the author of On Changes in Jewish Liturgy: Options and Limitations; On the Relationship of Mitzvot Between Man and His Neighbor and Man and His Maker, and Rabba, Maharat, Rabbanit, Rebbetzin: Women with Leadership Authority According to Halachah.
Rabbi Dov Linzer is the President and Rosh HaYeshiva of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, and is the primary architect of its groundbreaking curriculum. Rabbi Linzer has been a leading rabbinic voice in the Modern Orthodox community for over 20 years. He hosts a number of highly popular podcasts, including "Joy of Text," "Iggros Moshe A to Z," and his "Daf Yomi" podcast, covering all of shas. Rabbi Linzer has published many Torah articles, writes a widely-read weekly parsha sheet, and authors teshuvot on a wide range of contemporary halachic topics. He teaches regular classes in advanced Talmud, advanced halachah and the thought of Modern Orthodoxy, and serves as a religious guide to the yeshiva's current rabbinical students and over 125 rabbis serving in the field.
Chaim Trachtman is chief of pediatric nephrology at NYU Langone Medical Center. He is on the board of Yeshivat Maharat and is editor of the book Women and Men in Communal Prayer: Halakhic Perspectives (KTAV, 2010)
Contents:
Foreword
The Ludwig and Erica Jesselson Institute for Advanced Torah Studies at Bar-Ilan Universityby Rabbi Dov Linzer and Chaim Trachtman MD
Prefaceby R. Shimon Altshul
Introduction
I. The "Friendly" PesakDynamism in HalachahHalachah and Modernity
II. The "Friendly" PosekFundamental Values in HalachahApplications of These Values: Halachic AdjudicationIts Ways Are the Ways of PleasantnessSensitivity to Personal FeelingsHuman DignityCare Not to Shame or EmbarrassLeniency to Prevent Distress and SufferingBeyond the Letter of the LawAdaptability of Halachah to Changing CircumstancesConflict Between Legal Formalism and MoralityCompassion and Casting a Blind EyeSearching aSource for an Ethical DirectiveEncouraging RepentanceSummary of the "Friendly" Pesak
III. The Friendly RabbiThe Unfriendly RabbiFirst Story: The Winds of ManSecond Story: A Stained ReputationThird Story: Halachic MoralityFourth Story: The Ugly ManFifth Story: The Ignorant JewSixth Story: Charcoal and Distress
AppendicesFirst Story: HillelSecond Story: R. MeirPower of LeniencyNot to Prohibit the Permitted and the Sin of Indolence in AdjudicationSensitivity to the "Have-Nots"Knowing the Needs of OthersCommunal InvolvementAn Independent StanceSummary: The Requirements of the Contemporary Rabbi
Appendix 1: Three Examples of Sensitivity and Compassion in Psak
Introductory Note
The Dumb
The Blind
The Deaf
Appendix 2: On Leniency in Halachah
Appendix 3: On the Legitimacy of Halachic Innovation
Appendix 4: On the Necessity of a Rabbi Having an Independent Stance
Appendix 5: An Example of Compassion without Compromise
Appendix 6: "Its Ways Are the Ways of Pleasantness" and "Charitable Interpretation"
Indices
Subject IndexName IndexSource Index
About the Authors
