Home Home / Keynote Address at the Inaugural North …

Speech

November 25, 1993

Keynote Address at the Inaugural North American Orthodox Jewish Leadership Conference (1993)

Jewish Education Women & Judaism Passionate Moderation Zionism
View The Text

This content is currently available in its original PDF format. As we expand the library, we plan to add a text version as well.

RELATED CONTENT

Speech

Excerpts from Address, Founding Conference of the Association of Modern Orthodox Day Schools and Yeshiva High Schools (1999)

This new group which we convene and found this day, has three elements or foci which constitute its raison d'etre. These three are: Torah, specifically the study of Torah; the openness to worldly wisdom, often termed secular culture, and which we designate as Madda, and the importance of the State of Israel, or Medinah. These will form the basis of our discussion.Torah is not just one of three items that concern us; it is the foundation of all else. Torah which is an add-on is not Torah; for it is the framework, the context, the validation of all else that we do and to which we aspire. We must never take its primacy for granted.As educators, we must set before ourselves the goal of developing in our charges the desire for life-long learning. By word and by example, we must inspire them to appreciate that the study of Torah is a desideratum for all ages, and not simply a pediatric exercise, a school-related "subject." In certain areas and environments, such direction is more difficult to convey than in others. Nevertheless, this is a worthy and necessary goal.In teaching Torah, תורה שבעל פה must be given priority-priority but not exclusivity. I refer not only to the obvious need to teach Tanakh and related subjects, but to accommodate instructional material and emphases to the individual student. Those who are intellectually capable of mastering Gemara should certainly be encouraged to do so. But not everyone has the talents peculiar to this difficult discipline, namely, Talmud. Other students, whose general intellectual capacities may be no less than those who opt for Gemara but do not share the same bent, should not be allowed to think less of themselves as students of Torah. תורה שבכתב is also Torah... and suchפרשנות, מדרש, מחשבה young people should be helped along the road to excellence inetc.One more point: there is a growing tendency for girls to show vivid interest in learning Gemara. They should be encouraged, not discouraged. The rationale that the Chafetz …
Torah Study Torah Umadda Jewish Education Zionism

Speech

Keynote Address: Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations (1994)

I always wondered, as have no doubt many of you, why, on Friday nights, we warmly welcome the two angels with שלום עליכם מלאכי השרת, and after a courteous בואכם לשלום וברכתי לשלום we rather discourteously tell them to leave: צאתכם לשלום! They have hardly arrived, and we send them off! Some way to treat an angel! The answer I propose is this: The origin of the שלום עליכם piece is a statement by R. Yose b. Yehuda (Shah. 119b) that two angels accompany a person home on Friday night, and if they find that his home is prepared properly for Shabbat, the good angel blesses him and the bad one says "Amen." If the reverse, then the bad one curses him and the good one says "Amen."However, what happens to these angels after you send them off with צאתכם לשלום? I suggest that other texts, one on the same blatt, indicate that there are two angels who always accompany a person (see too Taanit 11a and Hagiga 16a). In that case, what our passage means is that the angels from last Shabbat are with you allweek and it is they who accompany you to your home on the eve of Shabbat. As they do, they are joined by a new set of two angels, and it is they whom you welcome with ,שלום עליכם בואכם לשלום, וברכתי לשלום. That done, you now courteously turn to the two "old" angels and bid them adieu צאתכם לשלום.It is a lesson in Jewish courtesy, in Talmudic manners: first you greet the new, then bid farewell to the old.With that in mind. 1 am delighted to welcome the new administration of Dr. Mendy Ganchrow: שלום עליכם! We all greet and congratulate you and your colleagues— בואכם לשלום . We admire your voluntary arranging to dedicate large chunks of your schedule to OU matters, your estimable talents and proven organizational effectiveness, and your healthy השקפה in Jewish matters; ברכתי לשלום, this bodes well as a blessing for the OU and for all Jews loyal to Torah. At the same time, we wish an official צאתכם לשלום to Shelly Rudoff and his administration for their time, their worry, their loyalty …
Jewish Unity Passionate Moderation

Speech

Modern Orthodoxy at the Brink of a New Century - Speech (1998)

This is a bitter-sweet occasion for me. It is bitter because it confirms for me psychologically what I already know rationally, namely, that Isaac Bernstein is no longer with us. And it is sweet because the memories are sweet and inspiring. Rabbi Bernstein was my successor at The Jewish Center in New York City. We became not only colleagues but fast friends. I was enchanted by his sparkling sense of humor, in awe of his range of knowledge and interests – from Torah, of course, to mathematics to opera – and I simply adored the man's dazzling personality. Because of this combination of talents – scholar, orator, wit, darshan – I invited him to teach at our Stern College for Women, where he won a string of loyal students who speak of him with a reverence that survives to this day. One of his great strengths was his interpretation of the parashat ha-shavua, the biblical portion of the week. In deference to him, I shall present my theme as he would have done it – homiletically, by discoursing on this week's parasha, which happens to be Noach, and, last Shabbat, Bereshit. The great floods covered the face of the earth and finally begin to recede. Noah, ensconced in his ark, was not quite sure what to do. He took the raven and sent it out as a test: if the raven does not return, that will be a sign that dry land is available and he can prepare to leave; if it does come back, it means there is no dry land and he must continue to stay in the ark. R. Velvel Soloveitchik of Brisk zt"l asks why this bird was sent out in the first place: even if the bird came back with olive leaves, implying that Noah may leave – or if the bird did not return at all, signifying that land had been sighted and he should prepare to leave the ark – he would not be permitted to leave. Why? Because just as he entered the ark on God’s command, so would he not be permitted to leave until he was instructed by divine command. R. Velvel offers no answer to his question. I humbly offer my own solution: No…
Noach Passionate Moderation Europe Biographical Material