Rav Rosensweig is back and learning Gittin

Well the summer must be over, because YU is back in session. While I have had a nice summer, I realize that I have been looking forward to Rav Michael Rosensweig beginning his shiur. Even though there are still hours and hours and hours of his shiurim online, there is something about following along "live."

As Rav Rosensweig began to discuss Gittin, he asked a fundamental question -- why is Geirushin (divorce) even permitted? As we all know Judaism does not shy away from defining strict regulations for behavior, as the 613 mitzvas make clear. And in fact, Rav Rosensweig often talks about how one should strive for a maximalist approach to halachah and in the conduct of our lives.

So, why divorce? As you all probably know the Catholic Church does not permit divorce, but instead may "annul" a marriage (basically treat it like it never happened) in some situations. I should know, having been married in the Church over 30 years ago, but divorced a few years later. Therefore, officially not permitted to receive the sacraments. I also wonder if I tried to really get in full graces with the Church through an annullment now, if it would be possible, since I am no longer in touch in anyway with my former wife. To me this is a system that simply doesn't work, which is why Rav Rosensweig's question intrigues me.

So, if we wanted to really be maximalist . . . why not forbid divorce?

While there are a number of answers that Rav Rosensweig discusses, in his own approach he describes how he sees the institution of geirushin as something that in reality helps retain the sanctity and sacredness of marriage, by allowing an out for people, if needed (certainly not encouraged). This "safety value" or "exit clause" helps preserve the choice, the union and the kedusha of the marriage, it does not destroy it.

This line of reasoning, reminded me of some of the Kiddushin shiurim I have listened to from Rav Rosensweig, in which he describes how erusin and nesuin (the two steps of a Jewish marriage that in former times were often separated by about a year of time, but now take place on the wedding day) where introduced by Moses to bring more sanctity to the institution of marriage as compared to those societies around the Jews.

What is clear to me is the importance of marriage for Rav Rosensweig and the tradition as a whole and what a wonderful insight to our human reality, that divorce used responsibily can truly enhance the bonds and faithfulness of marriage and not simply tear it apart.

I am glad he is back . . .

The Humility Of The Journey

I just downloaded this lovely article "The Humility Of The Journey" about one Orthodox rabbi's decision to a Rabbinical Association fellowship that included Reform and Conservative rabbis. In this short piece he writes:

The Torah commands us not to make an idol. An idol, explains the Mei haShiloach, is something which is carved in stone or cast in iron. It has very exact dimensions and clear boundaries; it is solid and unchanging. Don’t make your understanding of Torah into an idol, warns the Mei haShiloach. Don’t reduce Torah to a clear, static and unequivocal package that you can carry around on your shoulder. Never think that your present understanding of Torah is the full and final authorized version.

And why not? Because, according to Rav Mordechai Yosef of Izbich, the author of the Mei haShiloach, God gave us only a partial glimpse of his truth when he revealed the Torah at Sinai, in order that we spend our lives in an eternal search for additional pieces of the puzzle. God wants us to be on a quest, to be involved in a process. We must never rest on our laurels, must never let the Torah become static. The Torah that we know, Torat Haim, the Torah of life, is to always be alive, to always be dynamic, growing and developing. When we think we know it all and there is nothing more to learn, we have reduced our Torah to an idol, a mere graven image. Paradoxically, when we think we have it all, that is when we have lost it all.

I find these words capture very beautifully one the most attractive things I experience in the Talmud.