New Edition From Yeshiva University’s Newspaper

Rabbi Gil Student writes:

Fascinating articles in a new issue of Kol Hamevaser (link):

• Was the Rav a Tsaddik? In Search of Modern Orthodox Saints by Noah Greenfield
• Shemittah: From the Theoretical to the Practical by Abby Atlas
• WikiTorah by Ben Greenfield
• I With My Choice by Simeon Botnowick
• Heftsa or Gavra? The Task of the Contemporary Orthodox Thinker by Rabbi Shalom Carmy
• Text- My Prime Mover: A Translation for the Outsider by Shira Schwartz
• A Torah U-Madda Approach to Historical Inquiry by Yosef Lindell
• A Modern Orthodox Jew in the Modernized World by Aharon Arazi
• Maximizing Talmud Torah by Ephraim Meth
• A Conversation With Rabbi Michael Rosensweig by Ari Lamm
• The Natural World by Michael Kurin
• And Never the Twain Shall Meet? by Nina Bursky-Tammam
• Grammar and Theology by Noah Greenfield
• Beneath the Apple Tree: A Romance Between Torah and English Literature by Jaimie Fogel
• The Literary Approach to the Bible as a Response to Biblical Criticism by Simcha Gross
• Hadashim Gam Yeshanim: Using Non-Traditional Sources in the Study of Torah by Ben Kandel
• The Artist and the Jew by Tikva Hecht
• The Artful or Artless Jew? by Noah Cheses
• Postmodern Orthodoxy: Judaism in a Globalizing World by Shalom Schlagman
• Ailu Ve-Ailu Intolerant by Ben Greenfield
• Hazal’s Vision of Truth: A Response to Ailu ve-Ailu Intolerant by Leor Hackel

As mentioned in an earlier post, the RCA recently reached an agreement with the Israeli Rabbinate to create a network of rabbinical courts for conversion that will be automatically accepted by the Israeli Rabbinate (link). This is, in my opinion, an excellent development. There had been pressure put on the Israeli Rabbinate to reject conversions by Modern Orthodox rabbis, by using measures such as belief in an ancient universe to disqualify rabbis and their conversions (see these posts – I, II). However, especially given the RCA’s stance on these issues (link), I have been assured that this is not going to be the case. Note also that the EJF, the Charedi group that has tried to place itself at the lead of international conversion standards, does not factor into this agreement at all. Additionally, this agreement will not stop individual rabbis from performing conversions on their own and having the Israeli Rabbinate, if relevant, evaluate the convert’s status on a case-by-case basis.

For a detailed document of the RCA’s processes for conversion, see this document: link (PDF)

UPDATE: See this Op-Ed in JTA by R. Moshe Kletenik: link