2008 Conference - Teaching Halakhah

“TEACHING HALAKHAH”

 

THE SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE

of

THE CENTER FOR MODERN TORAH LEADERSHIP

 


AUGUST 13-14, 2008
GANN ACADEMY

RABBI ARYEH KLAPPER, DEAN
ELLEN COHN, PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Conference attendance is by invitation or application only. 

If you are responding to our registration request, Please click: 
                                                                         http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaID=159504


For more information, please contact Rabbi Klapper or Ellen Cohn at ModernTorahLeadership@gmail.com 

Statement of Purpose“At every level and in every context, from child to adult, beginner to semikhah, and school to shul, institutional statements of purpose mention increased observance, knowledge, and understanding of Halakhah as key outcomes for their constituencies.  Yet rabbis and teachers often cannot compellingly articulate the connections between the material we teach (Talmud, Tanakh, and Machshavah) and these outcomes.  Sometimes we lack the skills and knowledge necessary to develop compelling articulations; more usually, the communal intellectual and religious work necessary to develop compelling contemporary articulations is just beginning.” 

Format:Introductions and Framing, followed by four thematic sessions, followed by a summary conclusion and evaluation. Davening and meals will occur between the thematic sessions, and there will be brief divrei Torah or presentations at each meal. Each thematic session is introduced by a formal shiur approximately 50 minutes long.  The shiur is followed after a 10 minute break by 5-10 minute presentations modeling answers to questions arising out of the theme.  The presentations are followed by approximately 75 minutes of facilitated group discussion.   The outline below includes, for each theme, a list of seven terms of conceptualizations that may help frame the discussion.  Participants will receive brief definitions and discussions of each of these terms, as well as sourcesheets for the shiurim, several weeks in advance. The faculty and presenters for this year’s conference will be announced shortly.  Faculty at last year’s conference included Rabbi Yona Reiss and Rabbi Howard Jachter, and presenters included inter alia Dr. Jennie Rosenfeld, Rabbi Moshe Simkovich, and Rabbi Moshe Rosenberg.  Faculty for this year's conference include Rabbi Hayyim Angel and Rabbi Daniel Feldman, and presenters include Rsbbi Gur Berman, Rabbi Zev Farber, Mrs. Rachel Kohl-Finegold, Rabbi Mark Gottlieb, Rabbi Nati Helfgot, Mrs. Deborah Klapper, Rabbi Dovid Maayan, Rabbi Benjamin Samuels, and Rabbi Moshe Simkovich.   

SESSION 1 Theme:  The Relationship of Tanakh and Halakha 

Background questions/terms/categories: 

 

  1. Does Midrash Halakhah create law, or rather justify already known law?  See Dr. Jay Harris, How Do We Know This?, as well as the positions of Dorot Rishonim and of  Netziv
  2. What is the relationship between legal exegesis, including but not limited to Midrash Halakhah, and “pshat”?  See specifically the positions of Rashbam and Malbim
  3. How do we understand specific rabbinic acknowledgements that large areas of Halakhah given Biblical force (deoraita) have very tenuous connections to the Biblical text?  See specifically הררים תלויים בשערה,היתר נדרים פורח באויר הלכות שבת
  4. To what degree does rabbinic discretion play a role in determining deoraita law?  See the term מסרן הכתוב לחכמים
  5. How do we understand the term  ×”לכה למשה מסיני?
  6. What are the implications of the claim that לא בשמים היא?
  7. What is the difference in status between Chumash and Nakh, and what accounts for it?  See specifically the term אין למדין מדברי קבלה and Rambam’s position regarding the uniqueness of Mosaic prophecy
 Questions to be answered by presenters: 
  1. Why is our relationship to Tanakh so different from that of Chazal and their predecessors?  How should we understand the effect that has on Halakhah today, and on our understanding of the relationship between our Halakhah and the Torah’s ideal Halakhah?
  2. If everything comes from Torah, why are there so many areas where it seems clear that Chazal made Halakhah vastly more detailed and expansive than Torah requires?  Indeed, in every area it seems that our Halakhah is much more detailed than the Torah requires.
  3. Why is it that so many of the heros in Tanakh don’t seem to keep Halakhah, both when they oppose Hashem’s Will and when they fulfill Hashem’s Will?
SESSION 2 Theme:  The Role of Rationales 

Background questions/terms/categories: 
  1. The authority of autonomous reason to create law- למה לי קרא סברא הוא
  2. Do we allow rationales to influence law? דרשינן טעמא דקרא
  3. Traditional rationales = טעמי המצוות
  4. meaning vs. mysterium = חוקים\משפטים
  5. Rationales that depend on historical reference or social reality = מורה נבוכים and the challenge of Reform
  6. subjectively meaningful rationales - advantages and disadvantages
  7. Must every Halakhah be to the advantage of everyone? What if there’s a losing minority? = מורה נבוכים 
Questions to be answered by presenters: 
  1. Why should I keep Halakhah if it doesn’t give me any sense of closeness to G-d, and other ideas and practices that ignore or contradict Halakhah do give me that sense?  Why should I keep specific halakhot if it seems clear to me that they no longer accomplish the purposes they were intended for?
  2. Sometimes I find that Halakhah works for me only if I ignore traditional explanations and texts and focus on what it accomplishes for me in my life.  Is that okay?
  3. I’m willing to admit that Halakhah is a wonderful way to build a community, but it leaves a lot of people out, and hurts some people a lot.  Why is that okay?
SESSION 3  Theme:  Levels of Authority 

Background questions/terms/categories:

1.  דאורייתא\דרבנן\מנהג\הלכה למשה מסיני
2.  ספק לקולא\לחומרא
3.  החזיקו בדבריהם\שמא יזלזל
4.  ×œ×¤× ×™ עור - what are the practical outcomes for students of differentiating levels of authority, or of conflating them?
5.  See ×§×™×¦×•×¨ שולחן ערוך vs. משנה ברורה as examples of conflation and differentiation respectively
6.  capacity to overrule/change for each level of each authority
7.  awareness of history/Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky’s understanding that there were no rabbinic laws during the First Temple

Questions to be answered by presenters: 
  1. Why aren’t all derabbanan laws violations of bal tosif, and why do I have to listen to laws that are made by people if I disagree with them? 
  2. What does it matter where the Halakhah comes from – all I want to know is what to do!?
  3. Why shouldn’t the derabbanans at least depend on the judgement of today’s rabbis?  Doesn’t the Torah say “asher yihyeh bayamaim hahem”?
  4. My community does numerous things that don’t seem to be exactly the standard Halakhah, but I’m sure that a smart rabbi could find ways to fit them into the text.  What determines which and whose minhagim get justified by rabbis?
SESSION 4 Theme:  Halakhah and Character Background questions/terms/categories: 

Background questions/terms/categories: 

1.  תלמיד שאינו הגון
2.  תלמיד חכם דסני שומעניה
3.  נבל ברשות התורה
4.  דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה
5.  ראשית חכמה יראת ×”'
6.  אין עם הארץ חסיד ולא בור ירא חטא
7.  R. Norman Lamm – “Halakhah is minimal Judaism”

Questions to be answered by presenters: 
  1. In my experience, Orthodox Jews are not consistently better people than non-Orthodox Jews, and on issues of universal concern, they tend to be less involved than non-Orthodox Jews.  What then is the purpose of Halakhah?
  2. I find that rabbis with encyclopedic knowledge of halakhic details often demonstrate poor judgment on communal issues and on issues that aren’t technically halakhic.  How might we improve that situation?
  3. The formal Halakhah is that one should not teach Torah to students “who are inappropriate”.  What does that mean, and how can it be applied in our age of universal education?