Aryeh Klapper

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Oct 24, 2023, 6:32 PM

A Reply to Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times

Dear Mr. Kristof, You write “We must not kill Gazan children to try to protect Israeli children”. Indeed, the most fundamental principle of Jewish ethics is that all human blood is equally red. The Talmud says that one cannot properly...

May 10, 2023, 7:29 AM

GetYourGet: A Jewish Woman’s Guide to Divorce

Every Jew is pained and embarrassed by the incidence of agunot, women trapped in long-dead marriages by recalcitrant husbands. We properly respond with every social power at our command against such husbands. In the nine years of the Boston...

Jan 6, 2022, 7:51 PM

Dear Rabbi: What to do with Walder’s books?

QUESTION: Dear Rabbi Klapper, On November 18th, you wrote that halakhah mandated “immediately removing Rabbi Walder’s books from our stores and shelves.” A lot has happened since, including Walder’s suicide. What is your current position regarding the books? ANSWER: Thank you for asking. I...

Sep 13, 2021, 10:16 PM

Long COVID and Yom Kippur

Should I Fast?

Dear Rabbi Klapper, I had COVID last November, and have been enduring “long-COVID” ever since. Thank God, I feel that overall I am improving. However, I have “flares” in which I experience fatigue, chest pain, and shortness of breath, and...

May 12, 2021, 6:17 PM

Present violence and future coexistence

At Gann Academy, I once heard a presentation by a survivor of the Bosnian genocide. She talked about growing up in an integrated city, going to school together with Serbs, playing soccer together, being great friends — and then...

Aug 28, 2020, 8:20 AM

Beyond Pikuach Nefesh

We need a new and different Torah conversation about COVID-19. In the early stages of the pandemic, poskim were profusely praised for prioritizing public health over public ritual. Halakhic decisions were accompanied by fiery rhetoric about the primacy of lifesaving...

Apr 2, 2020, 7:37 AM

How to save lives during 3 day Yom Tov

Pikuach nefesh (=lifesaving) pushes aside almost all prohibitions, including those of Shabbat and Yom Tov. There are at least four ways that social isolation can create pikuach nefesh situations during the upcoming three-day yom tov. 1) People at high risk of death from COVID-19 may risk...

Mar 13, 2020, 12:32 PM

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/greenochflame-wars

Dear Friends, The coronavirus epidemic is making social media more and more central to Jewish community. There will be fresh voices and fresh ears in all our online spaces. We should take this opportunity to develop a more robust Torah...

Mar 4, 2020, 10:04 AM

How Not to Talk About Amalek

The mitzvah of wiping out Amalek properly troubles the soul of any Jew who is committed to both Torah and ethics. How can G-d command genocide? One approach, advanced independently by the Chofetz Chayyim and Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l, is...

Nov 21, 2019, 8:25 PM

How to Argue About Carlebach and His Legacy

The ongoing conversation about the legacy of Shlomo Carlebach is important in its own right, and also a valuable opportunity for our community to model how to conduct such conversations. I have my own opinions, which will be evident...

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About Me

Rabbi Aryeh Klapper is Dean of the Center for Modern Torah Leadership, which brings rigorous traditional scholarship, interdisciplinary openness, and a deeply humanist understanding of halakhah to every aspect of Jewish and public life. CMTL develops present and future Modern Orthodox leaders, male and female, through unique programs of intense Talmud Torah that catalyze intellectual creativity and educational innovation. Rabbi Klapper is a popular lecturer whose work is published and cited in both university and yeshiva contexts.