Tweet

Joshua Cypess

3 Jan, 12 tweets, 5 min read

1/ I'm just reflecting about how many leaders from the Modern Orthodox community passed away in 2020. The list is an overwhelming pantheon of pivotal, unique, and creative rabbis. I'm stunned by the enormity of the loss.

2/ Right at the end of the year, the 9th of Tevet, we lost Rav Henkin z'l, probably the most prominent & compassionate Dati-Leumi posek we had! It's rare to have a highly superior halakhist with unimpeachable standards who is also wise & thoughtful.

thelehrhaus.com/commentary/hes…

3/ Another Dec. loss: Rav Schwartz z'l of Chicago, another towering posek who took brave & indominable positions that understood modern society while having complete, airtight respect for tradition.

In my work in medical halakha, he was a crucial ally.

thelehrhaus.com/commentary/a-e…

4/ In Nov. we lost Rabbi Dr. Sacks z'l! His paramount leadership wasn't in halakha but in theology. He was able to navigate the secular & traditional worlds at the highest level; a rare rabbi whose philosophical work was universally recognized as valuable.
thelehrhaus.com/commentary/a-e…

5/ In Aug. we lost Rav Steinsaltz z'l! I'm - accurately - running out of superlatives; please understand this thread is not overstated. Steinsaltz is a nearly irreplaceable, unique figure in modern Jewish history.

nytimes.com/2020/08/09/boo…
thelehrhaus.com/timely-thought…

6/ In June we lost Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm z'l, president of YU when I was in RIETS, bridge figure in the translation of Torah U-Madda after the passing of his dissertation advisor, The Rav, Rabbi Dr. Joseph Soloveitchik z'l.
yu.edu/about/lamm-her…

thelehrhaus.com/commentary/the…

7/ In May we lost Rabbi Dr. Nachum Rabinovitch z'l, former head of Jews College, rosh yeshiva of Maale Adumim, a major figure in combining secular knowledge with the highest levels of Torah skill & a leader of Dati-Leumi community.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahum_Rab…
thelehrhaus.com/commentary/my-…

8/ This list isn't meant to be comprehensive, it was spontaneously spurred by the cumulative enormity of the losses that I remember. These were leaders of my community, a specialized, difficult, l'chatchila path of respect for all God has commanded us. Yafet in tents of Shem.

9/ Being Modern Orthodox aka Dati-Leumi (religious Zionist) aka Torah U-Madda (religious academic) is the path I'm on b/c of the intellect & talent & history God gave me. I believe this path is what God wants from Judaism. These leaders helped me immeasurably & the loss is great.

10/ We've lost other irreplaceable leaders this year: Rav Dovid Feinstein z'l, Prof. William Helmreich z'l, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg z'l, Rav Matis Blum z'l & the enormity of those losses cut deep, but the specialized leadership in Torah U-Madda is so difficult to replace.

11/ If I've missed other giants who passed in 2020, I will add them to this list. I apologize for not eulogizing these Arzei Levanon properly. I've described our time of crisis as needing to swim in rapids; when calm is attained, B"N I will provide a proper recall & reckoning.

@threadreaderapp

12/ @threadreaderapp please unroll.

@threader_app please compile.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @JoshuaCypess

Joshua Cypess

@JoshuaCypess

27 Dec 20

https://twitter.com/JoshuaCypess/status/1340702945210494977?s=20

24.01/ Week twenty-four, Dec. 26, 2020 to Jan 1, 2021 starts here. Last week's thread below

https://twitter.com/JoshuaCypess/status/1340702945210494977?s=20

24.02/ Just heard a radio ad where the phrase "Santa is coming with our holiday goods" and, look, can we work harder at keeping the fiction that Holidays is Happy Holidays isn't a one-to-one word for "Xmas"? OK my dudes?

https://twitter.com/NFL_Scorigami/status/1342633446091460608?s=20

24.03a/ Yesterday there were 3 NFL games and 2 Scorigamis!

https://twitter.com/NFL_Scorigami/status/1342633446091460608?s=20

https://twitter.com/NFL_Scorigami/status/1343050323728990210?s=20

Read 24 tweets

Joshua Cypess

@JoshuaCypess

25 Dec 20

1/ For people afraid we'll forget about the atrocities of the Trump (ym'sh) regime, today is the Fast of the 10th of Tevet which commemorates the beginning of siege of Jerusalem in 588 BCE... 2608 years ago

So, yeah, don't worry. Jews are built for this
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenth_of_…

2/ And, contrary to popular belief, this is history written by the non-victors. Unless you understand 'victory' as defined by pure survival. My people lost the battle, but wrote the books, constructed an entire society to learn
& teach in exile

3/ Part of these fasts are to remember the morality and ethics of the tragedy. The First Temple was destroyed as punishment for sins of the worst nature, esp. 'bloodshed', which Rabbi Leibtag taught us includes corrupt justice systems & oppressing the poor

Read 14 tweets

Joshua Cypess

@JoshuaCypess

21 Dec 20

1/ My kids know my pet-peeves and, thank God, are compassionate people who won't bring things up just to see me angry (outside of the standard parent-child education process). I describe these triggers as 'big red shiny buttons' based on ancient literature:

2/ My wife & I are both trained teachers, a rabbi & a rebbetzin both with MAs from Yeshiva University and PhDs in humanities/history, who care deeply about how to raise educated & ethical Modern Orthodox kids.

Which means, there are a lot of big red buttons to press.

3/ This comes up over Shabbat meals when they repeat divrei Torah they learned in school; but they aren't trying to get me to blow up, rather they're often disturbed by what they hear.

I've pledged to myself that I won't dispute their teachers unless 1 of 2 rules are violated:

Read 23 tweets

Joshua Cypess

@JoshuaCypess

21 Dec 20

1/ As a practical-minded scholar who aspires to be expert in worldly wisdom, I've concluded that the easiest & most lucrative job for someone with my skill set is to provide an intellectual superstructure to validate selfishness, cruelty & greed.

2/ Fortunately, my ethical constitution & upbringing steered me away from profiting off the misery of others. But the job of the "conservative intellectuals" throughout human history has been to invent plausible ethical-sounding theories to be a terrible person.

https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1339650283400523779?s=20

3/ This job in the past were false prophets of the idolatrous kings, religious leaders who validated slavery, 19th Century social-Darwinists, and the entire "Right Wing Think Tank" ecosphere with their jewel: trickle-down economics

https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1339650283400523779?s=20

Read 8 tweets

Joshua Cypess

@JoshuaCypess

20 Dec 20

https://twitter.com/JoshuaCypess/status/1337903218718814213?s=20

23.01/ Week 23, Jan 19-25 begins here. (Why does it start on Saturday? Because it's Sat. night, which in halakha is Sunday - Yom Rishon - the first day of the week. Thanks for coming to my Todros Talk)

Last week's thread here:

https://twitter.com/JoshuaCypess/status/1337903218718814213?s=20

23.02/ Halakhically a lie is ethical if it's for compassionate ends: "white lies" (eg "nice hat") I'd like to add a distinction for lies in the pursuit of justice: "red lies"

eg lying to the murderer is a Red Lie (& resolves a classic Kantian dilemma) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categoric…

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1340764155977093127?s=20

23.03/ Some good news:

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1340764155977093127?s=20

Read 23 tweets

Joshua Cypess

@JoshuaCypess

12 Dec 20

https://twitter.com/JoshuaCypess/status/1335664472430612483?s=20

22.01/ #ShavuaTov & happy 3rd night of #Hanukkah

Week 22, Dec 12-18, thread begins here.

Week 21 was here:

https://twitter.com/JoshuaCypess/status/1335664472430612483?s=20

https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1337804907177512962?s=20

22.02a/ Well Obama wasn't a real American, Biden not a real president and Jill Biden not a real doctor. This is a common gripe by anti-intellectuals & #Literalists who believe physicians own "doctor" when they actually stole it from PhDs

https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1337804907177512962?s=20

22.02b/ But let's be clear about why she actually deserves to use the title - aside from my own standard argument that I earned the degree - Dr. Biden is currently employed as a professor in a university. It's her job title, ya trolls! It's as valid as calling her "First Lady"