Herzl Hefter, at The Blogs

Sep 20, 2024, 1:31 PM

Teshuva, as we approach the High Holidays this year

This past year has been one of the most turbulent and painful the Jewish people and the State of Israel have known in recent memory. Jewish tradition, under such circumstances, bids us to introspection and soul searching – heshbon...

Jun 11, 2024, 4:15 PM

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This Shavuot: A time of reckoning

'Moses Receiving the Tablets of Law,' by Chagall, 1966. (Wikimedia Commons)

If we look to the Torah for why we do what we do, then we must make sure that the outcomes of those actions promote peace, compassion and human perfection

Mar 13, 2024, 3:04 PM

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Hamas is evil, but don’t be too quick to equate it with Amalek

Illustrative. 'Victory O Lord!' by John Everett Millais, 1871, depicts Moses holding up his arms during the Battle of Rephidim, assisted by Hur (left) and Aaron. (Wikipedia)

When rabbis call for indiscriminate killing and war crimes, I cannot remain silent, for the Torah demands mercy and kindness, even when we are at war

Oct 19, 2023, 7:43 PM

Words

When we say 'Holocaust,' what do we mean? How about 'Nazi'? We must use language with caution, especially during such fraught times as these (Noah)

Sep 22, 2023, 2:22 PM

The Akedah reconsidered: Faith and folly

The story of the Binding of Isaac is often invoked to teach that we must sacrifice our autonomous sense of right and wrong on the altar of divine authority. This understanding has had detrimental consequences, which lie at the...

May 25, 2023, 8:13 AM

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Understanding Sinai: The theological uncertainty principle

Do we need to know the exact physical location of Mt. Sinai? (iStock)

If we set aside our idealized, nostalgic reconstructions of the past, we can engage in the changing present with all its possibilities and surprises

Apr 19, 2023, 3:12 PM

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Transitions can be hazardous for the health of the Jewish people

Israelis protest against the Israeli government's planned judicial overhaul, at the Goma junction, northern Israel, on April 15, 2023. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

Historically, the time between Passover and Shavuot is one of trepidation and foreboding. This year in the modern State of Israel is no different

Jan 19, 2023, 1:55 PM

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The religious Zionist community has some soul-searching to do

MK Bezalel Smotrich, center, waves an Israeli flag during the annual 'Flags March' next to Damascus gate, outside Jerusalem's Old City, June 15, 2021. (AP Photo/ Mahmoud Illean/ File)

We need to set aside the messianism, ethnocentrism, and xenophobia in favor of a Jewish statehood that is rooted in Jewish identity yet suited to the modern world

Oct 28, 2022, 2:47 PM

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Where is the religious Zionism of Rabbi Kook?

Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook. (public domain)

How has a religious movement inspired by one who loved all humanity degenerated into a political party whose leaders espouse racist and Jewish supremacist ideas?

Apr 19, 2019, 3:00 AM

Our “Egyptian Entanglement”

The Jewish narrative is forever entangled with ancient Egypt. That entanglement continues to challenge us today. An Organic Entanglement The Talmudic Sages expand the Passover narrative from a historical encounter to an organic mother-child relationship. The Midrash compares God’s going to “take...

About Me

Rabbi Herzl Hefter is the founder and Rosh Beit Midrash Har’el in memory of Belda Kaufman Lindenbaum, in Jerusalem. It is a beit midrash for advanced rabbinic studies for men and women. He is a graduate of Yeshiva University where he learned under the tutelage of Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveichik זצ”ל, and received smikha from Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein זצ"ל at Yeshivat Har Etzion where he studied for ten years. Rabbi Hefter taught Yoreh De'ah to the Kollel fellows at the Gruss Kollel of Yeshiva University and served as the head of the Bruria Scholars Program at Midreshet Lindenbaum. He also taught at Yeshivat Mekor Chaim in Moscow and served as Rosh Kollel of the first Torah MiZion Kollel in Cleveland, Ohio. He has written numerous articles related to modernity and Hasidic thought. His divrei Torah and online shiurim can be accessed at www.har-el.org