Sefer Ha-Hayim Blog
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
 
Welcome
Welcome to the Sefer Ha-Hayim Blog of Yashar Books (what's a blog?).
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Tuesday, June 03, 2008
 
The Zoo Rabbi in YU
From the latest issue of YU Today (May 2008):


Thursday, May 29, 2008
 
Rabbi Jacob Joseph in the News
The current issue of The Jewish Press quotes the book Rabbi Israel Salanter: Religious-Ethical Thinker (link):
Rabbi Jacob Juspha, better known as Rabbi Jacob Joseph, was born into a very poor family in Kroz, Lithuania in 1840. His father, who worked in a beer brewery, sacrificed no end to provide his son a Torah education. Young Yaakov was an exceptional Torah student and studied for a number of years in the famous Volozhin Yeshiva, headed at that time by the Netziv, Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (1817-1893). Later he became one of the chief disciples of Reb Yisroel Salanter (1810-1883).

While Rabbi Joseph did not perpetuate the Musar system of his Master, he considered himself his spiritual heir. At home, in Vilna, Rabbi Joseph, who more than anyone else tried to popularize Rabbi Israel Salanter’s ideas among the people, was considered an authority on rabbinic law, a great preacher, and he lived up to the name he was given, Charif, (sharp, keen minded). Rabbi Joseph was the first of the young Rabbis to put into effect Rabbi Israel’s theories. [Israel Salanter, Religious-Ethical Thinker by Menachem G. Glenn, Yashar Books, 2005]

Rav Joseph’s first rabbinic post was in the town of Vilon (Veliuona) in the Kaunas district of Lithuania. He established a yeshiva there for a few select young men. The yeshiva stressed bekius; each student was required to select one tractate of Talmud during each z’man and was expected to know it virtually by heart.

A dynamic man who, as was true with his teacher Rav Yisroel Salanter, found it difficult to remain in one place for a long time, Rav Joseph served in several rabbinical positions in Lithuania before accepting the post of "community preacher" of Vilna in 1883.
In a short time he became very popular, especially with the unlettered. His sermons, masterpieces of Musar were named Revues….The most wealthy and the most learned of Vilna, many of whom had their Ordination (Semichah), also flocked to hear these sermons. Since Vilna had no chief Rabbi [at this time], he became head of the Bais Din there. [Israel Salanter, Religious-Ethical Thinker]
His published book of sermons, L’Bais Yaakov (Vilna, 1888), shows him to have been a man with an orderly mind and liberal outlook. The sermons are clear, well constructed, and ethical in emphasis.
However, as learned as he was, through overconfidence in people, he became involved in some financial enterprise that failed and he went bankrupt. This made a painful impression upon him….He became melancholic and would spend hours on the old Jewish cemetery in Vilna weeping. [Israel Salanter, Religious-Ethical Thinker]

Sunday, May 04, 2008
 
New Book: In The Footsteps Of The Kuzari
Announcing the publication of a new book by Yashar, published in conjunction with ATID:

In the Footsteps of the Kuzari
An Introduction to Jewish Philosophy

by Shalom Rosenberg
(link to the book's webpage)

In the Footsteps of the Kuzari is an exciting work that guides readers through Judaism’s views on the most pressing philosophical issues of the day. Combining a keen sensitivity to the religious dilemmas of our day with the intellectual rigor of the university, this book serves as an introduction to Jewish philosophy, and unapologetically argues that Judaism presents a coherent and sophisticated religious worldview that is as relevant today as it has been for millennia. Building on the classic work of Jewish thought, The Kuzari, noted Orthodox thinker Prof. Shalom Rosenberg takes readers through the Jewish views that have been voiced throughout the ages and shows how they can be transformed into a compelling worldview in this postmodern age. Intellectually stimulating and philosophically creative, this important work made large waves when published in Hebrew and is now being offered to the English reading public. Take a tour through Jewish philosophy over the ages, from the Talmud to Maimonides to Rav Kook and beyond, and learn where the next stage of Jewish thought will take us.

The book addresses such pressing issues as:
  • The sources of the individual’s religious experience,
  • Religious truth in the context of changing intellectual trends and fads,
  • Jewish uniqueness and the nations of the world,
  • The relations between the individual and the collective,
  • The challenges of educating toward a rich religious life.
Prof. Rosenberg has for decades been one of the leading intellectual forces in Israeli Modern Orthodoxy. In the Footsteps of the Kuzari will be an important resource for teachers and students of Jewish thought, as well as for English-speaking Jews in search of a rich, sophisticated, and coherent Jewish voice. Readers of Prof. Rosenberg’s work will discover his rare ability to use medieval texts to address contemporary issues, without sacrificing an awareness that these same texts are not themselves contemporary.

Learn more about the book here: link
Download a chapter from the book here: link (PDF)
Buy the book here: link

Thursday, April 17, 2008
 
The Challenge Is Back
The second edition of Rabbi Natan Slifkin's The Challenge of Creation is now available in stores and online (link). For those who already own the book, you can download a list of the significant changes here: link - PDF

Friday, April 11, 2008
 
New Book: A Philosophy of Mitzvot

Now available from Yashar Books:

A Philosophy of Mitzvot: The Religious and Ethical Principles of Judaism, their Roots in Biblical Law and the Judaic Oral Tradition

by Rabbi Dr. Gersion Appel



What divine purpose do the mitzvot, the Biblical commandments, serve? What moral and spiritual goals do the mitzvot envision? In a book made newly available to the reading public, Rabbi Dr. Gersion Appel presents a comprehensive view of the structure and meaning of the Torah’s commandments.

The Sefer ha-Hinnukh, one of the principal works in Jewish ethical and halakhic literature, is a primary source for ta’amei ha-mitzvot, the reasons and purpose of the divine commandments in the Torah. In A Philosophy of Mitzvot, originally published in 1975 and revised for this second edition, Rabbi Dr. Gersion Appel sets forth the Hinnukh’s objectives and his approach to revealing the religious and ethical meaning of the mitzvot.

In this wide-ranging study that is ideal for school courses, the author presents a comprehensive view of Jewish philosophy as developed by the Hinnukh and the classical Jewish philosophers. The Hinnukh emerges in this study as a great educator and moral and religious guide, and his classic work as a treasure-trove of Jewish knowledge, religious inspiration, and brilliant insight in the molding of human character.
“Appel’s study is a definitive evaluation of the Hinnuk’s approach. But, more than this, it is an exploration of significant perspectives and new directions for further studies of the meaning of the commandments. The book is comprehensive, informative and authoritative. It is a work of immense scholarship and deserves to be widely read.” —The Jewish Law Annual

Learn more about the book at http://www.yasharbooks.com/Mitzvot.html
Buy the book at http://www.yasharbooks.com/shop

Table of Contents
    Introduction: The Mitzvot: Their Nature and Import in Jewish Philosophy
  1. The Taryag Mitzvot
  2. The Quest for the Meaning of Mitzvot
  3. The Divine Purpose
  4. The Preamble of Faith
  5. A Rationale of Mitzvot
  6. Man's Ethical Duties
  7. The Individual and Society
  8. Man's Spiritual Dimension
  9. The Service of God
  10. The Divine Imperative
  11. Perspectives on the Mitzvot
  12. Conclusion: The Continuing Quest
  13. Excursus: The Sefer Ha-Hinnukh: Authorship & Sources


About the Author
Rabbi Dr. Gersion Appel is Yeshiva University Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Jewish Studies, and formerly Adjunct Professor of Graduate Hebrew Studies in New York University. He received his Torah education in Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah V'Daas and Yeshiva Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, where he received his Rabbinic ordination (Semicha - '41). He graduated Yeshiva College ('38) and has a Doctor of Hebrew Literature degree from Yeshiva University ('45) and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Harvard University.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008
 
Legacy of Maimonides on Tradition Website
A review of The Legacy of Maimonides in Tradition Online (link):
New Books on Rambam

Mar 19, 2008 -- The Legacy of Maimonides: Religion, Reason, and Community, ed. Yamin Levy and Shalom Carmy, Yashar Books, 2006. 307 pages.

Maimonides after 800 Years: Essays on Maimonides and His Influence, ed. Jay M. Harris, Harvard University Press, 2007. 343 pages.


"Yet another book on Maimonides?" So exclaims Jay Harris in the introduction to his new book. Yet nonetheless, these two collections, published in honor of the 800th anniversary of Rambam's death, offer extremely enjoyable readings in the thought of Rambam.

The first work, sponsored by the Maimonides Heritage Center, includes 14 essays, 8 of which are translations or reproductions of previously published articles. The opening essay by Prof. Isadore Twersky details Rambam's unique image within Jewish historical consciousness, comparing laudatory statements about him with those about other great sages, and then continues to delineate Twersky's understanding of how and why Rambam achieved such a unique status. It's a great article, and note as well the dedication: "Dedicated to the memory of my teacher and father-in-law, the ga'on R. Yosef Dov ha-Levi Soloveitchik, zz"l - the Maimonides of our generation."

Other pieces include Rabbi Lamm's article on Ahavat Hashem and Arthur Hyman's introduction to interpreting Rambam. Roslyn Weiss and Hayyim Angel contribute stimulating articles regarding the role of Rambam in parshanut. This is a useful collection which both scholars and laymen will enjoy.

The second work, drawing from a 2004 conference sponsored by Harvard Center for Jewish Studies, includes 16 new essays by leading Maimonidean scholars. Moshe Halbertal's fantastic essay analyzes the ambiguous goals and accomplishments of Mishneh Torah - did Rambam really intend to replace earlier literature of Torah She-Be'al Peh? Carlos Fraenkel submits a basic summary of his dissertation, nuancing Samuel Ibn Tibbon's relationship to Maimonides and his philosophy. Bernard Septimus and Haym Soloveitchik contribute important analyses of literary elements of Mishneh Torah, with Septimus focusing on Sefer Ha-Madda and Soloveitchik examining Hilchot Shabbat.

This is a very important collection which scholars will continue to consult for new ideas and trends in Maimonidean scholarship.

- Shlomo Brody

Sunday, March 23, 2008
 
Flipping Out? in Canada
Research yeshivas before sending your kids, author says
The Canadian Jewish News
March 20, 2008 pages B10-B11
(available online here - PDF)

By FRANCES KRAFT
Staff Reporter

Rabbi Shalom Berger, co-author of Flipping Out? Myth or Fact: The Impact of the “Year in Israel,” was not partial to the proposed title of the book when his publisher, Rabbi Gil Student, first suggested it. “I wasn’t so excited about it,” Rabbi Berger told The CJN in a phone interview from his home in Alon Shvut, near Jerusalem. “I thought it would imply something I didn’t think was fully accurate.” The question mark was inserted at his request, and the subtitle was one of several considered.

Indeed, the title and cover photo are somewhat provocative, alluding to fears among some parents of children becoming so religiously radicalized that they lose touch with the values they were raised with.

The 218-page volume, published in December by Yashar Books, has a handsomely photographed cover featuring a black fedora and suit jacket neatly placed on a suitcase in front of the Western Wall, considered Judaism’s holiest site. The garments are symbolic of stricter Jewish ritual observance and are not typical attire for modern Orthodox students entering Israeli yeshivot.

The book’s title, taken from Jewish rock band Blue Fringe’s song “Flippin’ Out,” is a flip take (pun notwithstanding) on the yeshiva year in Israel.

Its lyrics address some of the same changes referred to in the book – restrictions on relationships with the opposite sex, more visibly Orthodox attire, stricter observance of religious ritual, and avoidance of secular culture including movies – and the tension such changes can cause between parents and children.

The book’s approach, with three academics as respective writers of its three sections, is considerably more serious, but makes for an interesting read both for its lack of pedantry and its subject matter. There is little if any other current material exclusively devoted to the yeshiva year in Israel.

Rabbi Berger, an educator, and Rabbi Daniel Jacobson, a psychologist, base their sections on their respective doctoral studies, the former looking at changes in students’ attitudes and practices, and the latter examining the underlying psychology. Sociologist Chaim Waxman, who studied at an Israeli yeshiva himself in the late 1950s, wraps things up by examining American Orthodoxy, Zionism and Israel. All three authors are Americans who have made aliyah.

For his doctorate in education, Rabbi Berger, who works for the Lookstein Center for Jewish Education in the Diaspora at Bar-Ilan University, interviewed some 400 students at the beginning and end of their year in Israel. He sought them out a year later as well and was able to locate most of them, he said.

His subjects, virtually all of whom are graduates of American Jewish day schools, were drawn from four yeshivot hesder that combine study with army service for Israeli students and three American programs.

The term “flipping out” isn’t used in the book, and the authors do not put an explicit value judgment on the phenomenon. “It’s something that’s out there that parents express,” said Waxman. “Some modern Orthodox parents do see it as negative.”

In a comment that could be construed as reassuring – or not, if one wonders why the issue is raised in the first place – Rabbi Berger writes in the book that yeshiva students “do not appear to be swept up by a cult-like phenomenon.”

However, noted co-author Waxman in a phone interview, there is a process of “socialization” at yeshivot. Also, he noted, the yeshiva is a “total” environment.

“Its aim is to mould a certain type of person, and in some cases if the students internalize things to an extreme, it might have effects similar to those of people who join cults. I don’t think it’s the intention, or what the yeshiva does, but it’s how the student absorbs it.”

Rabbi Berger said that it’s not just the yeshiva experience that causes changes, but the age and developmental stage of the students, most of whom are just out of high school. They’re beginning to distinguish themselves from their parents. They’re developing their own identity and rebelling at some level.

“The question is: What setting are they going to be in when they have these experiences? We all think about the ’60s when kids went off to college and came back different from their parents – an experience in which students are exposed to ideas that they find compelling and very often they [are inculcated]. This is what you expect from 18- and 19-year-olds.

“In most cases that I’m familiar with, assuming the kids grew up in settings that are healthy and supportive, and where there is open communication, at some point they... come to appreciate their parents’ values and move back on some level in that direction.”

Rabbi Berger expected to find changes not only in religious attitudes and practice but also in attitudes toward Israel, and “for the most part” he did.

One finding that surprised him, however, was that students did not change in the area of ethical behaviour over the course of the year. Although his first reaction was to think that “this is something of an indictment of a program that put such an emphasis on ritual matters that interpersonal matters fell by the wayside,” he soon changed his mind.

“It turned out there really wasn’t a lot of room for change... The students scored themselves so high at the beginning of the year on interpersonal things that there was no room to change.”

He believes the finding is explained by the consistent support in the general community for ethical behaviour and a concomitant minimum of support for religious practice. The “overwhelming majority” of yeshiva students do not flip out, said Waxman. “Most come back and go to university, but they are affected – from my point of view very positively,” he said.

Some do stay for a second year instead of returning home, he noted. Of those, he added, some have their parents’ blessings, and others stay on against their parents’ wishes.

The book cited a Jewish studies principal at one student’s high school who disapproved of his former student’s decision not to attend the Ivy League university at which he had deferred acceptance.

The principal was concerned that future students would not be allowed to defer acceptance if others did not “uphold their commitments.”

But Paul Shaviv, director of education at the Anne and Max Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto, which currently has about 20 alumni in Israeli yeshivot, disagrees with that premise. “A school’s principal’s duty is to do what is best for the student, not [worry] about their school image,” he told The CJN.

Rabbi Berger noted that, among his research subjects who stayed for a second year, “not that many” originally planned to do so. “Clearly they were influenced, or they themselves said, ‘This is what I want to be doing.’ ”

For parents considering Israeli yeshiva education for their children, Waxman recommends putting “at least as much time into researching the institution as you would into finding out about a new car.”

He said parents need to know the perspective of the yeshiva – haredi, “transplanted American” or religious Zionist, for example.

Also, he added, they need to know their own child. “There are certain youngsters who should not be sent away from home, who need their parents there. Parents have children who are struggling and they think that sending them to Israel will resolve their struggles, but frequently it exacerbates them.”

Reflecting on the findings in the book, Waxman said he thinks “it just scratches the surface.

“It’s such a rich area that needs to be mined. There are so many things we don’t know.”

Tuesday, March 18, 2008
 
Flipping Out? in Canada
Research yeshivas before sending your kids, author says
The Canadian Jewish News
March 20, 2008 pages B10-B11
(available online here - PDF)

By FRANCES KRAFT
Staff Reporter

Rabbi Shalom Berger, co-author of Flipping Out? Myth or Fact: The Impact of the “Year in Israel,” was not partial to the proposed title of the book when his publisher, Rabbi Gil Student, first suggested it. “I wasn’t so excited about it,” Rabbi Berger told The CJN in a phone interview from his home in Alon Shvut, near Jerusalem. “I thought it would imply something I didn’t think was fully accurate.” The question mark was inserted at his request, and the subtitle was one of several considered.

Indeed, the title and cover photo are somewhat provocative, alluding to fears among some parents of children becoming so religiously radicalized that they lose touch with the values they were raised with.

The 218-page volume, published in December by Yashar Books, has a handsomely photographed cover featuring a black fedora and suit jacket neatly placed on a suitcase in front of the Western Wall, considered Judaism’s holiest site. The garments are symbolic of stricter Jewish ritual observance and are not typical attire for modern Orthodox students entering Israeli yeshivot.

The book’s title, taken from Jewish rock band Blue Fringe’s song “Flippin’ Out,” is a flip take (pun notwithstanding) on the yeshiva year in Israel.

Its lyrics address some of the same changes referred to in the book – restrictions on relationships with the opposite sex, more visibly Orthodox attire, stricter observance of religious ritual, and avoidance of secular culture including movies – and the tension such changes can cause between parents and children.

The book’s approach, with three academics as respective writers of its three sections, is considerably more serious, but makes for an interesting read both for its lack of pedantry and its subject matter. There is little if any other current material exclusively devoted to the yeshiva year in Israel.

Rabbi Berger, an educator, and Rabbi Daniel Jacobson, a psychologist, base their sections on their respective doctoral studies, the former looking at changes in students’ attitudes and practices, and the latter examining the underlying psychology. Sociologist Chaim Waxman, who studied at an Israeli yeshiva himself in the late 1950s, wraps things up by examining American Orthodoxy, Zionism and Israel. All three authors are Americans who have made aliyah.

For his doctorate in education, Rabbi Berger, who works for the Lookstein Center for Jewish Education in the Diaspora at Bar-Ilan University, interviewed some 400 students at the beginning and end of their year in Israel. He sought them out a year later as well and was able to locate most of them, he said.

His subjects, virtually all of whom are graduates of American Jewish day schools, were drawn from four yeshivot hesder that combine study with army service for Israeli students and three American programs.

The term “flipping out” isn’t used in the book, and the authors do not put an explicit value judgment on the phenomenon. “It’s something that’s out there that parents express,” said Waxman. “Some modern Orthodox parents do see it as negative.”

In a comment that could be construed as reassuring – or not, if one wonders why the issue is raised in the first place – Rabbi Berger writes in the book that yeshiva students “do not appear to be swept up by a cult-like phenomenon.”

However, noted co-author Waxman in a phone interview, there is a process of “socialization” at yeshivot. Also, he noted, the yeshiva is a “total” environment.

“Its aim is to mould a certain type of person, and in some cases if the students internalize things to an extreme, it might have effects similar to those of people who join cults. I don’t think it’s the intention, or what the yeshiva does, but it’s how the student absorbs it.”

Rabbi Berger said that it’s not just the yeshiva experience that causes changes, but the age and developmental stage of the students, most of whom are just out of high school. They’re beginning to distinguish themselves from their parents. They’re developing their own identity and rebelling at some level.

“The question is: What setting are they going to be in when they have these experiences? We all think about the ’60s when kids went off to college and came back different from their parents – an experience in which students are exposed to ideas that they find compelling and very often they [are inculcated]. This is what you expect from 18- and 19-year-olds.

“In most cases that I’m familiar with, assuming the kids grew up in settings that are healthy and supportive, and where there is open communication, at some point they... come to appreciate their parents’ values and move back on some level in that direction.”

Rabbi Berger expected to find changes not only in religious attitudes and practice but also in attitudes toward Israel, and “for the most part” he did.

One finding that surprised him, however, was that students did not change in the area of ethical behaviour over the course of the year. Although his first reaction was to think that “this is something of an indictment of a program that put such an emphasis on ritual matters that interpersonal matters fell by the wayside,” he soon changed his mind.

“It turned out there really wasn’t a lot of room for change... The students scored themselves so high at the beginning of the year on interpersonal things that there was no room to change.”

He believes the finding is explained by the consistent support in the general community for ethical behaviour and a concomitant minimum of support for religious practice. The “overwhelming majority” of yeshiva students do not flip out, said Waxman. “Most come back and go to university, but they are affected – from my point of view very positively,” he said.

Some do stay for a second year instead of returning home, he noted. Of those, he added, some have their parents’ blessings, and others stay on against their parents’ wishes.

The book cited a Jewish studies principal at one student’s high school who disapproved of his former student’s decision not to attend the Ivy League university at which he had deferred acceptance.

The principal was concerned that future students would not be allowed to defer acceptance if others did not “uphold their commitments.”

But Paul Shaviv, director of education at the Anne and Max Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto, which currently has about 20 alumni in Israeli yeshivot, disagrees with that premise. “A school’s principal’s duty is to do what is best for the student, not [worry] about their school image,” he told The CJN.

Rabbi Berger noted that, among his research subjects who stayed for a second year, “not that many” originally planned to do so. “Clearly they were influenced, or they themselves said, ‘This is what I want to be doing.’ ”

For parents considering Israeli yeshiva education for their children, Waxman recommends putting “at least as much time into researching the institution as you would into finding out about a new car.”

He said parents need to know the perspective of the yeshiva – haredi, “transplanted American” or religious Zionist, for example.

Also, he added, they need to know their own child. “There are certain youngsters who should not be sent away from home, who need their parents there. Parents have children who are struggling and they think that sending them to Israel will resolve their struggles, but frequently it exacerbates them.”

Reflecting on the findings in the book, Waxman said he thinks “it just scratches the surface.

“It’s such a rich area that needs to be mined. There are so many things we don’t know.”

Monday, March 03, 2008
 
Flipping Out? on OU Radio
Steve Savitsky, President of the OU, interviews the authors of Flipping Out? for OU Radio:
  • R. Shalom Berger: link

  • R. Dan Jacobson and Dr. Chaim Waxman: link

Friday, February 29, 2008
 
Flipping Out? in the Wall Street Journal
In today's Wall Street Journal (link):
Jewish Year Abroad
By BEN HARRIS
February 29, 2008; Page W11

By the middle of my post-high-school year of yeshiva study in Israel, it was obvious which of my classmates would return home much as they had left and which would return transformed. In the latter group were the boys who had begun to trade evenings at the bars on Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda Street for the study hall, where they spent hours imbibing rabbinic wisdom. Their hair grew shorter and their sidelocks longer. Baseball caps declaring allegiance to the Yankees and Mets were replaced with velvet yarmulkes. Now they declared allegiance to a higher authority.

Religious transformations like these have become such a phenomenon in the Orthodox Jewish world that they have birthed their own derisive catchphrase. "Flipping Out," a term first popularized by an Orthodox rock band, is now the title of a book published by Yashar Books in cooperation with New York's Yeshiva University, the flagship institution of Modern Orthodoxy. Jews who identify themselves as Modern Orthodox keep kosher, observe the sabbath and practice other rituals but are otherwise well integrated into society, living and working among people of other faiths.

A year of yeshiva study in Israel is now a rite of passage, with some Modern Orthodox high schools sending 90% of their graduating seniors to programs designed to fortify them with religious values before they go off to a secular American college. But some of these teenagers, once in Israel, choose to remain in yeshivas for a second or third year to continue their study of Torah and Talmud (biblical commentary). Others turn down admission to the Ivy League in favor of Yeshiva University, which offers a dual curriculum of liberal arts and religious instruction. In one case described in the book, a student's parents were so horrified at their son's intention to forgo admission to Harvard that they forged his signature on a commitment letter to the university. In the most extreme cases, returnees no longer respect the authority of rabbis they have known their entire lives, or refuse to eat in the home of their parents, whose adherence to Jewish dietary laws is deemed insufficiently rigorous.

"I suspect on some level moves the community to a more separatist position," said Rabbi Yosef Blau, the director of religious guidance at Yeshiva University, who supports Israel study but considers it a double-edged sword. "In Israel, the line between the Orthodox and the non-Orthodox is quite sharp, and that gets reflected back."

Exact figures are hard to come by, but YU estimates that some 2,000 Modern Orthodox high-school graduates depart for single-sex Israeli yeshivas each year. Most attend programs for foreigners, where instruction is typically in English, room and board are included, and 12-hour days of study -- generally a mixture of Bible, Talmud and Jewish law and philosophy, though the diet is more Talmud-centered for men -- are supplemented by trips to sites of religious significance.

"They're basically given the message that they are doing what they were created to do, which is to study Torah, that they are princes and princesses of Judaism, that that is all that they have to do," says Samuel Heilman, a sociologist of American Jewry and the author of "Sliding to the Right." He fingers the Israel year as a chief reason for Modern Orthodoxy's supposed shift toward traditionalism. Critics of the shift point to everything from the style of yarmulke worn by Modern Orthodox men to the reluctance of some returning yeshiva graduates to kiss their female relatives. In 2006, 10 alumni of a right-wing yeshiva in Israel left YU after a year, citing ideological differences.

Survey data in "Flipping Out," the first effort to quantify the effects of the year in Israel, will provide ammunition to the critics. Rabbi Shalom Berger, one of the book's three authors, found that prior to landing in Israel, less than 20% of students rank high on a scale of ritual practice. After the year of study, the number surges to nearly 70%. Rabbi Berger also found that students are more committed to lifelong Torah study and show stronger ties to Israel after they return. But only a tiny minority, he says, eschew higher education entirely and dedicate their lives to studying Torah. Most will eventually attend college and go on to productive careers.

For many Orthodox educators, particularly at Yeshiva University, which recruits heavily from the programs in Israel, these findings are cause for celebration, not concern. With its motto of "Torah Umadda," literally "Torah and secular knowledge," YU has long been the standard-bearer of the ideal of marrying Orthodox practice to secular education. "I believe our tradition is such that we should be confident that we can contribute to the world based on our values," said YU President Richard Joel, five of whose children have studied in Israeli yeshivas. "We're not supposed to view the modern world as the enemy."

What remains unclear is the extent to which the educators in Israel, a country without a tradition of liberal-arts education, share Mr. Joel's commitment to the Modern Orthodox ethos. I have earned two academic degrees from top universities since I left the yeshiva in Israel, all while continuing to observe many of the rituals urged upon me a decade ago by my rabbis there, though I take certain liberties with the law that they would almost certainly frown upon.

Still, I consider that year to have been one of the most enriching of my life. The headmaster, I'm sure, wouldn't agree. Some weeks before my departure, he called me to his office to tell me that I had wasted my time. "Maybe," he said, "if you had learned a little more Torah."

Mr. Harris writes about religion for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Monday, January 21, 2008
 
Flipping Out in Yiddish: דאָס יאָר אין ישׂראל
An article about the "Year in Israel" and the book Flipping Out? in the Yiddish Forward: link

Friday, January 11, 2008
 
Haaretz on Flipping Out?
A review of Flipping Out? and interview with Dr. Chaim Waxman in Haaretz: link

I am posting the text here because Haaretz URLs tend to change quickly:
When knitted kippot turn black and short sleeves get long

By Daphna Berman

The practice of sending Orthodox high-school graduates for a year of study in Israel has drastically changed the face of the American Jewish community, increasing stringency and knowledge, but with it, also fueling insularity, says a leading sociologist who examined the phenomenon.

Prof. Chaim Waxman, co-author of "Flipping Out? Myth or Fact: The Impact of the 'Year in Israel,'" also says that the trend has remarkably increased immigration rates among American Orthodox Jewry, as well as contributed to the community's shift rightward in terms of its support of both American and Israeli politics.

"Flipping Out," which was published last month in the U.S. and expected to be in Israeli bookstores later this month, offers a comprehensive analysis of the trend. The book, which examines the phenomenon from educational, psychological and sociological perspectives, was also written by Shalom Berger, a rabbi and educator who has taught in the post-secondary programs, as well as Daniel Jacobson, a rabbi and clinical psychologist. Both Berger and Jacobson studied the phenomenon for their doctoral dissertations.

The 'original birthright'

The "year in Israel" is now de rigueur among American Orthodox high-school students and as much as 90 percent of graduates from the New York area, for example, come to Israel for a year of study before college.

But as the name of the book suggests, the trend - and with it, the change that many teenagers undergo during their year of study here - has also prompted some degree of worry among parents. Short sleeves may turn into long sleeves, a knitted kippah is perhaps replaced with a black hat, and plans to go to college are sometimes delayed or scrapped altogether in favor of staying in a yeshiva to study further.

"The year in Israel is significantly changing the Orthodox community in the U.S., but this is only the first study," Waxman said in a recent interview. "It just goes to show how much more this needs to be examined."

The "year in Israel" was first conceived in 1957 by Rabbi Zevi Tabory, the director of the Torah Education Department of the Jewish Agency in New York. Waxman, in fact, was one of the program's first participants, when he studied at the Israeli yeshiva Kerem BeYavne (KBY), between 1958 and 1959. He calls the experience the "original birthright" and the "pioneer program" of bringing young Jews to Israel.

"It really changed my life," he said this week. "I was smitten. There were just a handful of Americans, it was mostly Israelis. We slept on a thin hay mattress, the building was a shell, but I had such a hevre (group of friends). I didn't want to go back home, but my parents told me I needed to finish college."

His children, he says, have all passed through the program and his son even leads one: Rabbi Ari Waxman heads the overseas program at Yeshivat Sha'alvim.

In his section of the book, which examines the sociological implications of the trend, Waxman traces the so-called "shift to the right" in the American Orthodox community in part to the year of post-high school study in Israel.

"In terms of ritual behavior, people have become more meticulous," he said. "There is a cadre of modern-Orthodox people with a degree of knowledge and dedication that is, to a great extent, the product of this program."

Gone are the days, therefore, when Orthodox institutions sponsor mixed-gendered dances or when it was still commonplace for people to eat in restaurants without kosher supervision. Instead, adult learning within the community has surged.

"People at Yeshiva University in the 1950s and 1960s say that the beit midrash in the evening had relatively few people in it," he said. "Now, if you visit there, it is packed and people are attributing it to (the year spent in) Israel."

Taking Israel with you

Waxman, a professor emeritus of sociology and Jewish studies at Rutgers University and a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute in Jerusalem, also found that the programs have increased immigration rates, as well as forged greater connections between Diaspora Jews and Israel.

A significant percentage of American immigrants have attended programs, where they receive "experiential and religio-cultural legitimization for immigration."

"If you go to any of these Orthodox neighborhoods, Israel is with you," he said of those who do not immigrate. "You live in the U.S., but you eat falafel, keep up on Israeli news, buy Israeli products and maintain that connection." The year in Israel, he notes, has even affected the liturgy in Orthodox synagogues in the U.S., as some adopt traditionally Israeli customs.

Waxman also believes that the year in Israel has fostered ties between the American Orthodox community and the Israeli national-religious community - which is mostly right-wing, emphasizes national aspects and interprets them religiously.

"This has created an alliance with the political right in Israel, which has reinforced ties with the political right in America," he said. But with the surge in Torah study and increased ties to Israel has also come a degree of insularity, he noted.

As a result, he says, despite the fact that the Orthodox show greater concern, on average, for the notion of Jewish "peoplehood" than other Jews, the community has become more isolationist and interacts less with the larger Jewish community.

"There were organizational boards that were comprised of representatives from Orthodox, Conservative and Reform communities, but you see less of that today. The representatives of the various denominations or movements don't work together as much on a communal level, though they do, of course, on an individual level."

Meanwhile, Waxman says the phenomenon still needs greater study.

"The truth of the matter is, these kids are not flipping out," he said. "Are they different from when they left? Yes. But in many cases, it's the exception that makes the perception."

Monday, December 31, 2007
 
Rabbi Shalom Berger on JM in the AM
R. Shalom Berger was on JM in the AM this morning. You can listen to it on streaming audio here: link (RAM) beginning at 1 hour 47 minutes.

Reminder that both Rabbi Berger and I will be at Lincoln Square Synagogue tomorrow morning at 10am.

Saturday, December 29, 2007
 
Flipping Out: Rabbi Shalom Berger in the NY Area
Rabbi Shalom Z. Berger, one of the authors of Flipping Out?, will be speaking over the next few days at the following locations:

  • Teaneck - Sunday, Dec. 30th at 8pm at Cong. Beth Aaron

  • JM in the AM - Monday, Dec. 31st on Nachum Segal's JM in the AM radio show. You can send questions in advance at the JM in the AM message center.

  • Manhattan - Tuesday, Jan. 1st at 10am Lincoln Square Synagogue.


  • I will be at the Teaneck and Manhattan events, and will also be speaking in Manhattan.


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