Posted by Ellen W. Horowitz
At the beginning of the week I posted a hardhitting update entitled “Riskin, the Rav and the Rebbe”.
I plan to meet with Rabbi Riskin after Pesach to discuss my concerns, so until I get some answers, I will refrain from online discussions of his activities with the Evangelical community.
However, in that post which was directed to Rabbi Riskin, I did refer to some statements made by Jeremy Gimpel during a lecture and an interview.
I used those excerpts, because I firmly believe that when our rabbinic leaders fail to draw or adhere to clear halachic lines, then our teachers can inadvertently fall out of line, or blur the lines.
Jeremy is an outstanding and respected teacher, but I felt uncomfortable with his presentation, because of what I deemed to be mixed messages.
Since that posting I have had some very good, thoughtful, sincere, and reflective correspondence with Jeremy. We discussed at length the statements in question, his intentions and direction, as well as any misunderstandings I may have had.
We agreed that these are awesome times and that drawing proper red lines in our alliances with Christian friends is indeed a very difficult test for the Jewish people.
Not only did Jeremy clear things up with me, but he and Ari Abramovitz went on the air on their A7 Wednesday radio show and laid down the law – the Jewish law - in no uncertain terms.
Listen to their show at http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125855
Jeremy and Ari are very well-loved and respected and my comments were intended as a call to order and accountability, rather than an affront to their reputations. And I think we are all in agreement that regardless of the changing times, we Jews are obligated to hold our ground –spiritually and physically- and adhere to the following formula:
a) remain fiercely loyal to One G-d
b) keep the fences around the Torah intact
c) keep idolatry away from our people and the Land of Israel
d) educate by bringing close with the right hand and pushing away with the left
e) respecting and suspecting our Gentile friends
Shabbat Shalom.
Ellen
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