Jewish Israel gives presentation at Jerusalem Rabbinic Conference

Posted by Jewish Israel


On February 11th, Jewish Israel participated in a rabbinic conference held in Jerusalem on the topic of “Activities of Christian organizations and Evangelicals in Israel”.

The conference was organized by Rabbis Elchanan Bin Nun of Shiloh, Gidon Perl of Alon Shevut, and Elyakim Levanon of Elon Moreh. A wide range of rabbinic leaders from across Israel attended the conference, and a number of representatives from the Council of Young Israel and the Rabbinical Council of America were also present.

The aim of the conference was to present the rabbinic establishment with an overview of the challenges we face as a result of the burgeoning Israel-evangelical relationship. The ultimate goal is to strengthen halachic guidelines and to set clear and accountable boundaries vis a vis Israel’s dealings with the Gentile community.

The conference was closed to the press per the organizer’s request.

Jewish Israel’s Rabbinic Director Rabbi Dr. Sholom Gold and our Rabbinic and Academic Advisor Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey Woolf were among the featured speakers.

Jewish Israel’s Public Relations Director Shulamit Leibler gave a comprehensive powerpoint presentation which illustrated the magnitude and complexity of the challenges we face due to growing evangelical influence in every sector of Israeli society...more

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COMING SOON: Jewish Israel Reviews Rabbi Riskin’s Lecture
Recently Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Efrat gave lectures in Jerusalem and Efrat respectively on the topic of "Jewish-Christian Dialogue, is it permissible? If so, is it desirable?". Representatives from Jewish Israel attended the lecture held in Jerusalem and took notes. We received an unedited audio tape and have forwarded that along with our initial impressions to our rabbinic director and academic advisors for their review. We should be posting our full commentary in the coming days...more

Succot & Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) A Perfect Match

It's customary to read Kohelet the Shabbat of Succot. I must admit to reading the English translation, but I did study the Book in a Bible class, and in Hebrew. So my knowledge of the book isn't all that superficial.

A couple of years ago, there was a blogging debate about when King Solomon actually wrote it, before or after Shir Hashirim, (The Song of Songs,) and Mishlei, (Proverbs.) I hold a very minority view about it. I think he wrote it first. The writing of Kohelet was cathartic, helping him mature past his "excesses." Only afterwards could he have written the other books. But that's not the main subject here.

When King Solomon writes that the riches, the "good things in life" are all Havel Havelim, hot air, nothingness, norishkeit, he's preparing us to leave our comfortable, sturdy homes and move into temporary huts, succot. One of the main requirements for a succah is a special roof. It can't be solid. It must be fragile. The walls of the succah may be strong, even permanent, but not the roof. It's made of s'chach, leaves, branches, wood. You must be able to see the sky. The roof is the part of the house which protects, and davka, the roof of the succah is the most problematic.

When we're in the succah, we connect with G-d. G-d is our building engineer, the inspector.

During the Od Avinu Chai March, which this year took place in the hills near Shiloh, our local Rabbi, HaRav Elchanan Bin Nun spoke to us. He described the succah as protection. I wish I had recorded his words.

Back to King Solomon's words in Kohelet. King Solomon "had it all," and in the end he realized that it's hevel, nothingness. It isn't the fancy homes which keep us safe, it's living G-d's commandments in the succah, which seems so flimsy.

Rav Elchanan spoke to us two days after our neighbor, Yehudit's, funeral. The actual topic of the Rabbi's talk was the community of Givat Harel, named after one of his sons, who was murdered by Arab terrorists.

L'illui nishmatam:

Harel Oz ben HaRav Elchanan

Yehudit bat Shmuel Shachne