Rabbi Shaanan Gelman

Parshat Vaera – 5780 Rabbi Shaanan Gelman and Rabbi Ariel Rackovsky “Carry a Big Stick” I’d like to pose a question to you with profound ethical, halachic and even legal ramifications. Is thinking about doing something tantamount to doing it? In the halachic realm, this question is discussed in numerous contexts, but the first time it ever appears can be found in Tractate Berachos (20b) in Thursday’s Daf Yomi, in discussing the laws of the Shema. If I think about the words of the Shema- what the Talmud refers to as hirhur - have I fulfilled my obligation to recite it? Or consider a sordid example, described by Rabbi David Bashevkin in the third chapter of his excellent work “Sin*a*gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought. [1] ” Gilberto Valle, a NY area police officer, was a man possessed by sick thoughts. Acting upon her suspicions, his wife installed spyware on his computer, which revealed that he had embarked upon a plan to commit several unspeakable crimes. If that we...

Parshat Shemot - 5780 Rabbi Shaanan Gelman “Know Thine Enemy” On Parshat Vayigash I was invited to serve as scholar in residence in Givat Ze’ev.   The weekend was arranged by the Rabbinical Council of America and the Barkai Center for Practical Rabbinics in Israel.   Barkai trains and educates Israeli rabbanim by developing the pastoral skill set which has historically not played a role in Israeli shuls and communities.   This coming May, their Rabbi, Rabbi Motti Simpson, will be coming to KCT to spend Shabbat with us.   The goal is to learn from one another, to appreciate some of the unique characteristics and challenges of Jewish life in the diaspora and in Israeli communities. At an Oneg Shabbat, I fielded questions from the tzibur, curious to learn about the new-antisemitism we are facing, at the same time - we took a moment to appreciate the new Israel, one thankfully more safe and secure than ever before, even with the periodic missile attacks from ...