Tag Archives: Marc B. Shapiro

Marc B. Shapiro: The Worst Thing Chabad Did

According to Wikipedia: “[Yosef Yitzchok (Joseph Isaac), the sixth Lubavitcher rebbe] Schneersohn argued against his Hasidim leaving Russia[in the 1920s, 1930s], even if they were able do. He explicitly forbade his followers from leaving, describing those who did as “deserters”.” … Continue reading

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Will Women Getting Called To The Torah Cause Men To Lust?

Historian Marc B. Shapiro writes: …I quoted a responsum of R. Joseph Messas.[11] In this teshuvah he also explains why women can’t be given aliyot. As is well known, in earlier days this was permitted but the Sages later forbid … Continue reading

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How Do The Haredim Feel About The Non-Haredim?

Historian Marc B. Shapiro blogs: One of the leaders of the extremist haredim is R. Moshe Sternbuch. Here is the first page of a responsum he wrote (Teshuvot ve-Hanhagot, vol. 1, no. 816) in which he states that if a … Continue reading

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How Important Was R. Avigdor Miller?

Rabbi Avigdor Miller is the favorite contemporary rabbi of several friends of mine. I ask historian Marc B. Shapiro: “How important a rabbi was Avigdor Miller? Would you ever do a class on him?” Marc replies: “He was not important … Continue reading

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Historian Marc B. Shapiro: “Luke Ford reports all of the ‘juicy’ quotes, and has been doing it for years.”

History professor Marc B. Shapiro emails FailedMessiah: The conversation in my class was not designed to be broadcast all over the world so people can join in and heap abuse on a great Torah sage (and I have to say … Continue reading

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Should Orthodox Jewish Parents Worry About Sending Their Kids To A Secular College?

Jewish Theological Seminary professor Alan Mittleman wrote in First Things in 2003: There is a pamphlet making its way, via the Internet, through the Modern Orthodox stream of the American Jewish community. Written by Gil Perl and Yaakov Weinstein, graduate … Continue reading

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Get Ready For Female Modern Orthodox Rabbis

Historian Marc B. Shapiro writes: Leaving aside the issue of serving as a dayan, it is obvious to me that women rabbis are coming to Modern Orthodoxy, even if the powers that be are standing firmly against it. Yet they … Continue reading

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Why Aren’t Most Jews Orthodox?

Dear Orthodox intellectual: Have you publicly addressed the primary reasons why most Jews are not Orthodox? If you haven’t, I’d love to see that. I’m curious if you think the biggest obstacle to non-Orthodox considering Orthodoxy is intellectual (most of … Continue reading

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What’s The Difference Between A Torah Scholar And A Gadol?

In a lecture on rabbinic biographies for Torah in Motion, Orthodox rabbi and history professor Marc B. Shapiro says: “In the haredi world [ultra-Orthodoxy], [Rav J.B. Soloveitchik] is recognized as a Torah scholar but not as a gadol [great rabbi]. … Continue reading

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Racist Statements In Torah

DF writes to Marc B. Shapiro: You assert that some things, viz, negative comments about non-Jews or blacks, should be kept out of school. But there are many such statements, about both categories, in rabbinic works down throughout the centuries. … Continue reading

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