Monday, December 17, 2007

It's an RUS!

Couldn't resist :-)

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Thursday, December 13, 2007

"Torah-True rabbis"

If you're not a member of a Young Israel (and maybe if you are), you can get a good laugh out of the National Council of Young Israel's proposed new standards for Young Israel rabbis and synagogues. You may be even be amused to find out that NCYI thinks it has power to set standards. (The standards, as best as I understand them, include (1) that a central board has to vet rabbinical hirings by local Young Israels, (2) that women and converts can't serve as synagogue presidents, and that (3) no Young Israel can run womens prayer groups or megillah readings).

The YU Commentator ran an article on it, pointing out that it's an attempt by the Chareidi segment of Young Israel to take control from the left-wing Modern Orthodox. NCYI president Shlomo Mostofsky responded to the article in a comment on their website. In it, he said:
Synagogues and communities that have joined the Young Israel movement over the past 96 years are proud to be identified with the standards of halacha and hadracha that our founding Torah-true lay leaders and rabbis were moser nefesh to establish. (emph. added)


The punch-line: It's nice to know that the NCYI president considers Mordechai Kaplan to have been a "Torah-true rabbi!"

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