by Rabbi David Weiss Halivni Z"L
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are that of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Union for Traditional Judaism, unless otherwise indicated.
Rabbi Professor David Weiss Halivni addresses the question “Is the Critical Method Compatible with Orthodoxy?” in this two-part video from January 23, 2013 on Louisjacobs.org.
The first video is found at https://louisjacobs.org/video/rabbi-weiss-halivni-speaks-asks-is-the-critical-method-compatible-with-orthodoxy. The second video, which contains questions and answers is found at https://louisjacobs.org/video/dr-david-weiss-halvini-part-3/ (note: although the second video is in some places labeled “part 3,” it is actually part 2 of Rabbi Halivni’s remarks and “part 3” refers to the overall symposium, including opening remarks by Dr. Miri-Freud Kandel found here).
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Born in the Carpathian town of Kobyletska, Poliana, and raised in Sziget, Romania, Rav David Weiss Halvini is one of the world’s pre-eminent Talmudic scholars.
A child prodigy who received rabbinic ordination as a teenager, Rav Halivni was deported to Auschwitz during the Holocaust and soon transferred to a forced labor camp. Tragically, he was the only member of his family to survive. When he arrived in the United States at the age of 18, Rav Halivni was placed in a Jewish orphanage.
Shortly after, he was introduced to heralded Talmudist Rav Saul Lieberman at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Over the following decades, Rav Halivni would embark on his prodigious critical commentary of the Talmud in his multi-volume Mekorot u’Mesorot.
In the mid-1980s Rav Halivni and many of his fellow Traditionalists left JTS after the Seminary’s vote to ordain women as rabbis and founded the Union for Traditional Judaism, where Rav Halivni was appointed Reish Metiva of the Union’s rabbinical school and its Panel of Halakhic Inquiry.
Rabbi Halivni resides in Israel, where he teaches and continues to work on his magnum opus. In addition, he has authored several books, including the following:
Additional titles are available in the Viewpoints bookstore.
In 1985, Rav Halivni was a co-recipient of the prestigious Bialik Prize for Jewish Thought, and in 2008, he was awarded the Israel Prize for his Talmudic Work.
A number of videos of and regarding Rabbi Halivni can be found on the UTJ Youtube channel in the Rabbi Halivni playlist.
For more about Rav Halivni, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Weiss_Halivni