Author Description

After the destruction of European Jewry in the previous century, the last 70 years have seen a rebirth of the Jewish people, both in Israel as a result of the establishment of the state and in the United States primarily as a result of the influx of the remnant of European Jewry. Against all predictions, the Torah communities in these two centers have emerged in recent years as Jewry’s most vibrant elements. In the past decades other segments of Jewry have begun to fade, while Orthodoxy continues to thrive. With this growth, however, comes the responsibility to be involved not only with the spiritual needs of Klal Yisrael, but also with its material ones. As other segments of American Jewry diminish not only in numbers but also in their inclination to stand up for Jewish values and the Jewish State, our opening article asks “Who Will Support the State of Israel?” Other articles in this issue deal with the impact of some of the dramatic changes that have occurred within Jewry during these last seventy years and Orthodoxy’s attitude towards these changes. A Hebrew article looks at a famous essay by Rav Yitzhak Hutner and gives a new, more nuanced interpretation of his stance on Zionism. With Israel’s return to their land, one Halakhah article asks whether the laws regarding “Mourning the Hurban in a Rebuilt Jerusalem” still apply, while another, “Acknowledging a Miracle with a Berachah,” asks whether the time has come to make a berakhah upon seeing Jerusalem’s Kidron Valley. Menachem Elon tried to integrate traditional halakhah with modern legal systems within Israel’s court system. A Hebrew article takes a close look at one of his cases to evaluate his methodology. In our History of Halakhah section, “The Intersection of Halakhah and Science in Medical Ethics: The approach of Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg” looks at the halakhic method of Israel’s most influential posek in the realm of science and medicine. Also in our History of Halakhah section, “Can a Ger Tzedek be appo