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We write to remind you to join the UTJ for 5781 if you have not already done so and also to share some Torah created by UTJ Rabbis over the high holiday season. …
5780 was, for all of us, a very trying year. Rabbi Jeffrey Miller finds inspiration for the future in the last words of the Torah, which we completed on Simhat Torah, as well as from the words traditionally recited after the Torah is completed – Chazak, Chazak, V’nitchazek. “Be strong, Be strong, and Let us strengthen others.” …
Thank you for your past generosity, and we hope you can continue to support the UTJ and our mission of אמונה צרופה ויושר דעת – Genuine Faith and Intellectual Honesty. To become a member for 5781, please go to utj.org/join-us. To make any other contribution, please go to utj.org/donate/. You can also mail your membership or general donation to:
Below are items recently posted on UTJ Viewponts as seen on the UTJ Facebook page. From here, you can follow links to the particular article or video on Viewpoints and you can also share, comment on, and like the Facebook posts to help spread the word about items you find interesting and important.
Please see https://utj.org/viewpoints/videos/minyanim-in-the-post-covid-era-thurs-5-21-8pm-webinar-with-rabbi-david-novak/ for video of this event. As cities and states begin to open up, the issue of how synagogues can safely conduct their minyanim and shiurim in the wake of the pandemic is of paramount importance. Rabbi David Novak, President of the UTJ and J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Professor of the Study of Continue Reading »
Although the desire to engage in “appropriately socially distanced” ritual is understandable, we believe that halacha calls for a different approach. Halacha is famous for applying a great deal of stricture “lest one thing lead to another.” The very first mishnah of Pirkei Avot teaches עשו סייג לתורה – make a fence around the Torah — and rabbinic literature is replete with praise for those who act לפנים משורת הדין – beyond the letter of the law. …
[W]e believe that the right approach to social distancing is to do our best to avoid all nonessential public interactions lest those interactions lead to dangerous failures of social distancing. We should all be erring on the side of caution in this regard.
The UTJ is deeply concerned by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s singling out of the Jewish community for criticism of large gatherings in violation of both the city and state’s social distancing mandates.
Below are items recently posted on UTJ Viewponts as seen on the UTJ Facebook page. From here, you can follow links to the particular article or video on Viewpoints and you can also share, comment on, and like the Facebook posts to help spread the word about items you find interesting and important.
The Union for Traditional Judaism (UTJ) is saddened to report the news of the passing of Rabbi Professor Edward Gershfield z”l. Rabbi Gershfield had long been a proponent and supporter of the UTJ and its work to bring Jews closer to observant Judaism and served as its President for several years. Rabbi Gershfield received a Continue Reading »
December 16, 2019 Another shooting. Another act of anti-semitism. Another community in grief. More families sitting in mourning. From a synagogue in Pittsburgh to a Chabad shul in California to the most recent horror – a homicide of three civilians at a kosher market in an emerging Satmar Chasidic community in Jersey City along with Continue Reading »
November 14, 2019 The Union for Traditional Judaism calls upon all Jews, regardless of movement affiliation or non-affiliation, to join in expressing support for the State of Israel at this critical time. We condemn the policy of Islamic Jihad to take retribution for a surgical military strike on a terrorist leader by attacking hundreds of Continue Reading »