Varieties of Jewish Experience

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.\\nVarieties of Jewish Experience
\nBy Aharon Lichtenstein KTAV Publishing House, Inc.Copyright © 2011 Aharon Lichtenstein
\nAll right reserved.
\nISBN: 978-1-60280-186-8\\nContents
\nChapter 1 Of Marriage: Relationship and Relations..................................................................1Chapter 2 Talmud and Ma'aseh in Pirkei Avot........................................................................39Chapter 3 Communal Governance, Lay and Rabbinic: An Overview.......................................................63Chapter 4 Jewish Philanthropy — Whither?.....................................................................97Chapter 5 Beyond the Pale? Reflections Regarding Contemporary Relations with Non-Orthodox Jews.....................129Chapter 6 Law and Spirituality: Defining the Terms.................................................................167Chapter 7 Contemporary Impediments to Yirat Shamayim...............................................................195Chapter 8 Formulating Responses in an Egalitarian Age: An Overview.................................................229Chapter 9 Reflections upon Birkot Ha-Torah.........................................................................257Chapter 10 To Double Business Bound: Reflections on the Divided Life of Ovdei Hashem...............................269Chapter 11 Diaspora Religious Zionism: Some Current Reflections....................................................291Acknowledgements and Sources of Essays..............................................................................319Source Index........................................................................................................321Subject and Name Index..............................................................................................329\\nChapter One
\nOf Marriage: Relationship and Relations\\nI have written this piece, and I present it here, likewise, with a measure of ambivalence and trepidation. On the one hand, its subject is important, as a conceptual and ideological topic, per se. Moreover, beyond the theoretical, it impinges upon intimate chambers in the life of almost any and every halakhically committed Jew or Jewess. Finally, to the knowledgeable, the basic issues and primary texts are probably familiar, so that any attempt at grappling with the concerns and elucidating them may be welcome.
\nOn the other hand, others may find parts of the discussion disturbing, if not objectionable. To some, it may appear to stand in violation of the mishnah's admonition, as elucidated by the gemara, against public discussion of the arcane aspects of proscribed sexual liaisons. While the issues herewith treated have received fuller expositions in numerous Torah-oriented books and articles, every accretion may be challenged as an erosion of the proper level of zeniut. Of greater concern is the prospect that others, particularly the relatively less initiate, may find the essay unsettling. Perhaps, hitherto fully comfortable with the roseate tinge of some contemporary presentations of Jewish attitudes to sexuality, they may find their personal equipoise adversely affected by exposure to less positive sources. The result may be either some erosion in the quality and enthusiasm of married life; or, conversely, some slippage in respect for pillars of the halakhic world, such as the Rambam and the Ramban. And this might, in turn, undermine commitment to Halakhah in its totality.
\nOn a broader, and possibly deeper, front, the differences noted between attitudes expressed by Hazal and later formulations raises issues concerning periodization and continuity within the halakhic system; and, for readers not wholly satisfied with suggestions I have tentatively advanced, by way of resolution, the impact may be, again, possibly unsettling.
\nDespite the ambivalence, I have, obviously, decided to proceed. I have done so not only in the interest of s

Publisher:

Ktav Pub & Distributors Inc

Pages:

334

Date Published:

2011