Past Issues and Their Current Revivals

Almost all of the articles in this collection were published between 1971 and 2010, but they have been updated to 2015, following the re-emergence of old controversies. The parties to the controversies include secular Jews, modern Orthodox-nationalist Jews, Orthodox Jews, and extreme-Orthodox (Haredi) Jews. In the Introduction, some controversies among the Pharisees, the forerunners of the Sages, and the  adducees are discussed. The Sadducees held ancient, mostly literal, interpretations of the Hebrew Bible and of the oral traditions, whereas the Pharisees offered new interpretations in order to meet the needs of their day.

The religious problems were raised in Israel after 1967, when large numbers of Russian immigrants entered the country, since many of them were not Halachically Jewish. The Chief Rabbinate could not cope with their numbers because of the lengthy conversion procedure. The solution offered here is to permit civil marriage, that will also facilitate swifter conversion procedures.

In the articles, “Sharing the Burden,’’ and “The Torah is his Art,” the demand of the Haredi community that yeshiva (religious academy) students should be exempt from army service and from working in order to support their families is refuted. The article proves that this demand absolutely negates the position of the Sages.

In “Sharing the Burden,” and in “Ze’ev Jabotinsky and Socialism,”the preferable economic and political regime in Israel is discussed. The alternatives were: a free and competitive Capitalistic market system, or a Socialistic / Communistic one. The author expresses support for the free, open market.

The article, “The Sabbatical Year” (Shemittah), during which the fields must be left fallow, points out that this agricultural regulation was designed to prevent the impoverishment of the soil. For the same reason, it was also practiced by the Romans. Today, however, other means of preventing this exist, and therefore it is no longer necessary. The formal permission to sell crops of the seventh year issued by Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook improved the condition of the farmers during that year, but the position of Rabbi Yehudah Ha-Nasi (the Patriarch) should be adopted instead; the interdiction of the working of the soil in the seventh year should be cancelled absolutely.

The article, “Women are Light-Minded,.” analyzes the condition and position of women in Israel, and compares them with the attitude towards women in ancient Greece and Rome. The article on “The Deserted Wife (Agunah; Who Cannot Remarry)” discusses divorce and the condition of a wife deserted by her husband in the ancient and modern worlds. It seems, unfortunately, that the interpretation of the Sages still prevails today.

The discussion of “The Transfer of Land to Gentiles” clarifies the halachic aspects of this issue, and rejects the interpretation of Orthodox and Ḥaredi rabbis that is summarized in the saying, “The saving of life takes precedence over the [retention of the] land.”

The article, “The Rebellions,” argues that one must examine the political and military situation in the world at the time of the Sages before defining his attitude towards the Jews who rebelled against Rome.

In the article on “Vegetarianism,” the error of the Sages in understanding the words of the Torah concerning the diet of Adam, the first man, is discussed. The Sages thought that Adam was a vegetarian. This misinterpretation serves the adherents of vegetarianism today. Apart from stressing the moral aspect of killing animals in order to eat their flesh, the vegetarians claim that vegetarianism is healthy, and that it can supply food for an increasing world population, whereas the raising and consumption of animals cannot.

The collection’s last article, “Paul and the Jewish-Christian Dialogue,” analyzes the expressions that the New Testament attributes to Paul, and their apologetic interpretation by Christian scholars. The author concludes that there is no place for a Jewish-Christian dialogue as long as the Christians embrace the anti-Jewish arguments of Paul.