Posts in : October, 2013 - Orthodox Ketubot
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Oct28
The Mikva App
by Esti Horwitzposted in BlogComments Off on The Mikva App
Today’s post isn’t about ketubot today, sorry folks!
Rather, this ridiculous news out of Israel: the government is making an app to help find the nearest Mikva!
I’m not sure if this is true or humorous, but all signs point to it being true. This is wonderful, and the future has finally arrived!
An excerpt fro the article:
During a meeting of the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of Women the director-general of the Ministry of Religious Services, Elchanan Glatt reported in the coming months there will be a new addition to the Waze app, one that directs people to mikvaos. The Waze add on app is expected to provide information pertaining to the location of mikvaos in Eretz Yisrael as well as operating hours and a contact phone number.
The new application will significantly facilitate finding a mikve in a city for those who are traveling or simply new to an area. In addition, Glatt stated that during 2014 the ministry will complete efforts to ensure there is a mikve that is accessible to the disabled in every city of the country.
Read more here: The Mikva App
The future has finally arrived!
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by Esti Horwitzposted in BlogComments Off on What is the Secret of Orthodox Judaism’s Success?
A great article in the Jewish Press argues that the secret of Orthodoxy’s success is, our not being accepted by the countries we’re in. When we’re fully accepted, the argument goes, we integrate and secularize; we don’t do so when the country we’re in won’t let us.
The article begins with a powerful anecdote:
There is a little known fact (outside of Lubavitch) about the founder of Chabad Chasidus, Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi (the author of the Shulchan Aruch HaRav – also known as the Baal HaTanya). He supported the Czar of Russia in opposition to Napolean. R’ Shneur Zalman reasoned that the freedom that would result via Napolean’s emancipation from the Czar would cause Jews to go Off the Derech (OTD). He wasn’t entirely wrong.
Guess what? He was right. Today, Jews are almost fully accepted in modern America: and most non-Orthodox Jews integrate in fully, losing their Judaism within two generations.
This is a great argument for staying religious. When we feel the pangs of doubt, let us remember this!
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by Esti Horwitzposted in BlogComments Off on Rabbi Zev Farber and the Agunah Crisis
I’m happy to hear that Rabbi Zev Farber is working, in an Orthodox setting, to help improve Agunah issues. From a recent article on Morethodoxy, he begins:
At the recent agunah summit, I submitted an outline for a solution to the agunah/mesurevet gett problem. Having sent this to a number of rabbis and agunah activists, I post here a revised version of that proposal. I will begin with an annotated outline and move on to some final observations and a summary.
I’m not going to comment on the proposal myself, but it is definitely worth of review and analysis. You’d be well-served to read it.
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by Esti Horwitzposted in BlogComments Off on My New Role Model: Malka Schaps
This isn’t directly about a Ketubah, but speaks to the Orthodox and Haredi world powerfully. The words of this article about Malka Schaps speak for themselves:
Malka Schaps has gone where few Haredi women have gone before. She’s a Harvard-educated professor of mathematics, a globetrotter who lectures at academic conferences around the world, a bestselling novelist who has also delved into non-fiction, and an ultra-Orthodox mother who actively encouraged her sons to serve in the Israeli army.
Last week, she pushed the envelope one notch further when she became the first ultra-Orthodox woman in Israel (and probably anywhere else in the world) to be appointed dean at a major university. As of the coming academic year, Schaps, who has until now headed Bar-Ilan University’s financial mathematics program, will serve as the dean of its faculty of exact sciences.
More here. Schaps has this fantastic combination of intelligence, drive and dedication to our traditions to make her a wonderful model for all Jewish men and women.
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Oct11
Five Things About Abraham
by Esti Horwitzposted in BlogComments Off on Five Things About Abraham
I usually try to write about Ketubot here, but today’s post has nothing to do with a Ketubah.
In my online wanderings, I happened to stumble upon this article titled, “Five things you probably didn’t know about Abraham.”
Some of them I personally knew: I re-read the Torah last year, and it reminded me that the classic idol-breaking story wasn’t there. But some of them were new to me: Abraham minted money? His sister-in-law was named Jessica? I had no idea and no recollection.
Interesting and fun piece for anyone who wants some insight into Abraham.
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by Esti Horwitzposted in BlogComments Off on Survey of the US Jewish Population
Today’s post isn’t about a Ketubah or Ketubot so much as modern American Jews in general.
There has just been a serious survey of the American Jewish population and the key findings, as they related to Orthodox and other observant Jews is:
– We are about 10% of the US population
– This is substantially lower than a century ago
– Our portion of the population is expected to shoot up over the next decadesIn short, there was a vast reformation among the Orthodox Jews during much of the 20th century. But that seems to have come to a clear end. Meanwhile, the Orthodox Jews are having many, many more kids than secular Jews (plus, marrying out substantially less) — therefore, our portion of the population is expected to shoot up.
The article goes on to make some excellent points:
While around half of those surveyed who were raised Orthodox say they have left the movement, the “falloff from Orthodoxy appears to be declining” and due to a high birthrate, the Orthodox “share of the Jewish population [is expected to] grow.”
However, the numbers may not tell the entire story, wrote Rabbi Eliyahu Fink of the Pacific Jewish Center in Venice Beach, California.
“Think about the orthodox Jewish friends and family you know. Does it make sense to say that over half of them are no longer orthodox,” he asked. “83% of people raised as orthodox Jews under the age of 30 stay…So the people who were raised orthodox and no longer are orthodox are mostly older people,” Fink said.
The numbers could signify “a shift in who attends orthodox schools,” he mused. “In other words, 20-30 years ago it was far more likely for a family to send a child to an orthodox school and identify as orthodox even if they were not totally observant of halacha. There was more cross-pollination and there were fewer non-orthodox options. So you wind up with more people from previous generations identifying as being raised orthodox even though they weren’t truly orthodox through and through. This is rarer today because we are more insular and non-orthodox or unaffiliated Jews feel less comfortable in orthodox institutions.”
Read more here
