Religion & Beliefs

Open House at Yeshivat Hadar

By Tamar Fox / July 19, 2007

I’m nearing the end of my summer as a fellow at Yeshivat Hadar, and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Amazing faculty? Check. Awesome classes? Check. Swell group? Check. Fantastic summer? Hell yeah. If you’re interested in being a fellow next summer, drop by the Yeshiva today to sit in on a class, meet the faculty, and hang out with a gaggle of swell Torah-lovers. For a class schedule click here. Yeshivat Hadar is located at the corner of 69th and Amsterdam on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in West End Synagogue.

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  • By Soccer 7/19/07 at 1:14 p.m. UTC

    I only made my outlandish comments to spur discussion and I enjoyed reading your thoughtful responses, if I still lived on the uws, I would def check out hadar!

  • Michael Pine
    By mhpine 7/19/07 at 11:45 a.m. UTC

    Anyone who doubts the passion and commitment of Hadar to Torah and Jewish observance has simply never attended a Hadar service or program.  Hadar is able to attract Jews who were raised Orthodox who would never set foot in a typical Conservative shul, because they do not have choose between their committment to egalitarianism and a spiritually fulfilling Jewish community.     

    Ask any of the leaders of Hadar and they will tell you, that it is not a Conservative institution – it is a community that is committed to a serious embrace of halakha and Jewish tradition while acknowledging that halakha needs to adapt to radically new social conditions of modernity and embrace its most salient insights.  Which of course is precisely the type of community that Conservative Judasim was supposed to establish, but which it has utterly failed to do so outside the ivory tower of JTS.

    It is pretty telling that the model community for Conservative Judaism holds the movement at arms length.  Ultimately, Conservative Judaism will have to follow in Hadar's path, or become obsolete.  But in at least in the schtetl of the Upper West Side, progressive halakhic Judaism is thriving. 

  • By Anonymous 7/19/07 at 9:14 a.m. UTC

    I agree with Tamar. There are conservative Jews who are serious about learning and who love the Torah. I also don’t think Consrevative Judaism is all about challenging and changing Judaism. I do have problems with the Consrevative Movement and disagree with its approach to Halachah, but at least they still start at the same place.

  • Tamar Fox
    By Tamar Fox 7/19/07 at 2:06 a.m. UTC

    It's not associated with the Conservative movement in any way.  And anyway, I think that while you may have a problem with the Conservative movement (as do I) it's unfair to say that Conservative Jews don't love the Torah.  I certainly know many exceptions to that rule.  If you're in New York I encourage you to come on down to YH in the morning.  It's going to be awesome, as per usual.

  • By Soccer 7/19/07 at 1:39 a.m. UTC

    C’mon Tamar, with all due respect, isnt this a Conservative program? If Conservative Judaism is all about challenging and changing Judaism, how much could you really call them Torah-”Lovers”? I dont deny that they enjoy intellectual stimulation, and are fine Jews, but do they really Love the Torah as it is? really now!

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