Beit Hillel

7/31/2019 Beit Hillel

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Beit HillelAttentiveSpiritual

Leadership


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What is Beit Hillel?

Mission StatementBeit Hillel Attentive Spiritual Leadership is a Modern-

Orthodox spiritual leadership organization comprised of over

150 rabbanim and rabbaniyot, and

aspires to guide the Religious Zionist

community in a religiously-tolerant

and communally-relevant spiritualdirection, in order to deal with the

new realities and complexities of

our generation, while remaining an

integral part of Israeli society.

Beit Hillel Attentive Spiritual Leadership strives tomagnify the voice of the centrist mainstream, whose

constituents are grappling to nd their way in modern society

while maintaining their commitment to Torah and Halacha.

Beit Hillel embraces a tolerant Judaism that speaks to the

religious (Dati), traditional (Mesorati), and non-observant

segments of Israeli society.Beit Hillel Attentive Spiritual Leadership believes

unequivocally in the eternity of the Torah and Halacha and

its relevance to every generation.

Major Areas of FocusHalacha and Democracy -We view democracy in the State

of Israel as a spiritual value and strive to blend Halacha and

democracy together without sacricing either principle. We

consider the laws of the State of Israel to be Halachically

binding upon every citizen. We acknowledge the Halachic

validity of the authorities of the State of Israel, including thegovernment and Knesset, the court system and the police.

We believe in an absolute commitment to serve in the IDF.

Empowerment of Women We assign spiritual signifcance

to the promotion of the status of women in society and in

Judaism. Hence, we aspire to empower women in the

realms of leadership, Torah education and Jewish life, and to

enhance the status of women within the religious community

in accordance with Halacha. In this spirit, we have chosen

to be the frst Orthodox spiritual leadership organization that

includes scholarly women who serve as spiritual leaders - as

equal partners.


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Broad and Open-Minded Education - We seek to equip

our students with the tools required to forge a deep Religious

Zionist identity. Such an identity will be built upon a complex

and comprehensive worldview that includes the positiveelements that exist throughout the world and in modern

Western culture. We believe in the value of academic study

and research, and in the importance of a profound Jewish

education that is not narrow-minded and does not create

isolationism or separatism from general Israeli society.

What makes Beit Hillel unique?

MODERATION: Beit Hillel believes in engaging and beingactive partners in Israeli society, academia, the workforce,

and much more. It does not believe in being concerned

solely with sectarian interests nor isolating itself from society.

TOLERANCE: Beit Hillel aims to act like the historic school

of Hillel: it will conduct itself modestly, all the while respectingits ideological opponents. Beit Hillel will conduct an open,

attuned dialogue with those with whom it disagrees, while

giving full expression to its own approach to the study and

dissemination of Torah.

INCLUSION OF WOMEN: Beit Hillel is the rst Orthodox

spiritual leadership organization in the Jewish world toinclude women spiritual leaders as equal partners in positions

of leadership, learning, and inuence. These women leaders

are all outstanding and experienced scholars and have an

equal voice in the movement.

PARTNERSHIP: Beit Hillels organizational structure isbased on genuine partnership with non-rabbinic leaders.

The board of directors and executive committee has equal

representation of funders, public gures, and lay and

community leaders. A Public Council exists to reect the

general rabbinic membership of the organization. The

public council includes leaders from different areas in theIsraeli society: Academia, business, education, law, media

and more.

THE VOICE OF THE MAJORITY:The voice of Beit Hillel is

not limited to a few rabbis; rather, it is comprised of more

than 150 spiritual leaders who represent the world view of

hundreds of thousands of religious and traditional Israelis.

The leaders of Beit Hillel are devoted to carrying out the

organizations mission and programs

in the Beit Midrash


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to carry out in-depth research

and study of societal issues;

in the media to communicate

the messages emergingfrom the Beit Midrash; and in

direct contact with the various

stakeholders who make Beit

Hillel an inclusive, attentive, and grassroots movement.

What does Beit Hillel do to

achieve its mission?

Beit Hillel acts on three fronts to achieve its mission of

attentive spiritual leadership:1. ATTENTIVE: communicating and connecting with the

public through traditional PR and media, and social media

networks.

2. SPIRITUAL/TORANI: formulating and disseminating

Halachic and Hashkac positions through a Beit Midrash for

Halacha, Beit Midrash for Hashkafa, publications, learningseminars, conferences and Shabbatonim

3. LEADERSHIP: partnering with lay leaders in the

community through the public council, funders coalition,

round-table events, conferences and regional chapters, as

well as consultation services to communities and schools.

Two of these activities are expanded upon:

BEIT MIDRASH FOR HALACHA:

The Beit Midrash convenes rabbis and female spiritual

leaders with broad experience in the realm of Halacha and

Hashkafa. Our goal is to continue the chain of Halacha across

the generations and to compose comprehensive responsa,which will courageously address the major issues emerging

from the social and technological changes in modern society,

as well as new issues arising from the creation of a Jewish

State after nearly 2000 years of exile. This includes such

topics as addressing modesty and relationships between

men-women in the public sphere, involvement of womenin religious life, the role of democracy from a Halachic

perspective, nding Halachically-sound ways to engage the

non-religious and form bonds of friendship between them

and the religious, values of equality and human rights in

Halacha, and more.


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The Beit Midrash meets several times a year, studies these

issues in depth, and suggests Halachic solutions that will

take into account the values, demands and culture of modern

society. Following each session, the issues are presentedfor discussion among all of Beit Hillels members of the

internet, and are then assembled into a publication, which

is disseminated to synagogues throughout Israel once every

two months, in the name of Beit Hillel.

Beit Hillel - A Torah leadership withits finger on the pulse of its people

SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS:

Beit Hillel has made it a priority to be both accessible and

attentive to the publics mindset, needs and questions in real

time. Beit Hillel acknowledges that a communitys strength is

no longer necessarily a function of the geographical space

in which it operates, but rather in its ability to expand those

boundaries by grounding itself in ideology, bringing people

together, addressing their needs, and discussing issues that

concern the public.

Social networks and the Internet are tools that enable

Beit Hillels spiritual leaders to be accessible and attentive

to the public. Beit Hillel

is noticeably present on a

daily basis on Facebook,

T w i t t e r , Y o u T u b e ,and of course on its own

accessible and r e g u l a r l y

u p d a t e d w e b s i t e .

Many of the men and

women who are part of Beit

Hillel run their own Facebook accounts, that are connectedto Beit Hillels central Facebook page, which helps to keep

the connection between Beit Hillel and the public alive and

current.

Beit Hillel has the very rst Facebook Halachic Responsa,

which allows for debate of Torah issues in real time, and

invites the public to actively participate in the discussion.Beit Hillel runs public campaigns to promote social values

such as prenuptial agreements, equality and human rights,

a just attitude to foreigners in Israel, inclusiveness of women

and more.


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Who are the people leading

Beit Hillel?

Beit Hillels board of directors is comprised of an equal combination

of rabbanim and rabbaniyot and public gures and funders.

Rabbinical Leadership

Rav Meir Nehorai

Chairman Rav of Kibbutz Masuot Yitzchak,

Ram at the Beit Midrash for Higher Studies at

Migdal Oz. Holds a Masters degree in Talmud.

Former Rabbi of Bnei Akiva of the UK.

Rav Ronen NeuwirthExecutive Director Rav of Congregation

Ohel Ari in Raanana. Served as Director of the

Overseas Department of Tzohar. Former Rabbi of

Bnei Akiva of North America. Served as a Chief

Technology Ofcer (CTO) for a hi-tech company.

Served as a captain in the Israeli Navy Special Forces.

Rav Zeev Weitman

Rosh Beit Midrash for Halacha - Rav of Tenuva

since 1993. Former Rav of Kibbutz Kfar Etzion.

Served as a teacher in Toronto. Chairman of

the National Shmita Committee. Former head ofthe Kashrut department of the Chief Rabbinate.

Author of books on Shmita and Kashrut.

Rav Yoni Rosensweig

Director of Beit Midrash for Halacha - Rav of congregation

Netzach Menashe in Beit Shemesh. Rosh Yeshivat Torat Yosef

near Efrat. Former Rosh Kollel of the Torah MiTzion Kollel inMelbourne, Australia.

Rav Tzvi Koren

Rosh Beit Midrash for Hashkafa - Founder

and Rav of Kehillat Kinor-David. Co-founder and

former Rosh-Yeshiva of Yeshivat Nachshon near

Beit-Shemesh. Ram in Midreshet Lindenbaum.

Rav Amnon Bazak

Ram at Yeshivat Har Etzion. Lecturer in Tanach

and Oral Law at Herzog College and the Womens

Beit Midrash at Migdal Oz. Author of books on the

Tanach according to the plain meaning of the text.

Served as editor to the weekly leaet Shabbat

bShabbato.

Rabbanit Dr. Pnina Neuwirth

Rabbanit of Congregation Ohel Ari in Raanana.

Lawyer, specializing in Tax and Commercial law inIsrael. Holds a Ph.D. Degree in tax law. Teaches

law at Haifa and Bar Ilan universities. Teaches

Torah in MaTaN HaSharon Raanana and in other

frameworks. Previously a professor at Stern College for Women.

Rav Dr. Ronen Lubitch

Rav of Moshav Nir Etzion. Served as CommunalRabbi and campus rabbi at Cape Town University.

Lectures at Shaanan Academic College for

Education. Director of the Betzavta program

at Haifa University an open Beit Midrash

for Students. Lectures at the Department of

Multidisciplinary Studies at Haifa University.


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Rabbanit Oshra Koren

Director of MaTaN (Womens Torah Institute)

HaSharon, where she teaches Talmud and

Tanach. Founded the MaTaN Bat Mitzvahprogram, leads the Bat Kol Ensemble. Rabbanit

of Kehillat Kinor David in Raanana. Member of

the Raanana City Council.

Rav Dr. Tzachi Hershkowitz

Rav of congregation Netzach Shlomo in Petach

Tikva . Has a Ph.D. Degree in Jewish Philosophy.

Teaches Jewish philosophy at Bar Ilan University,

Ashkelon College, and other institutions of higher

education.

Rabbanit Esti Rosenberg

Founder and head of the Migdal Oz Beit Midrashfor Women. Served as Rosh Beit Midrash of the

Midreshet Lindenbaum Israeli Program. An active

member on the board of Bnei Akiva.

Rabbanit Michal Tikochinsky

Holds a Masters degree in Law. Head of

the Moshe Green Beit Midrash for WomensLeadership at Beit Morasha. Teacher for Talmud

and Halacha; One of the leading women in the

eld.

Rav Yehuda Gilad

Rav of Kibbutz Lavi. Rosh Yeshivat Maale Gilboa.

Former Knesset member.

Rav Ohad Taharlev

Head of Midreshet Lindenbaum and the head of Hadas program,

combining Torah studies for young women with military service.Has a Masters degree in history. Studied drama and arts.

Lay Leadership

David Roth

Deputy Chairman - Executive Director of the

Yoreinu Foundation, that seeks to strengthen Israelisocietys Jewish and democratic character. Was a

philanthropic consultant with Donor Associates in

Israel, Ltd. Served as an active board member of Torah MiTzion.

Former co-chair of the Jewish Funders Networks funding in Israel

working group. Holds a Masters degree in Nonprot Management.

Hila Zeligman

Spokesperson - Holds a Masters degree in

political science from Bar Ilan University. Worked

as a communications consultant in the ofce

of Rimon Cohen Sheinkman and served as

the spokesperson of several organizations and

individuals.

Dr. Aviad Hacohen

Dean of Shaarey Mishpat Law College and

senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Hebrew

University of Jerusalem. Chairperson of Mosaica

- Research Center for Religion, Society & State;

Chairperson of the logistics committee of Taglit-

Birthright Israel International.

Additional lay leaders include: Jacques Gorlin, Prof.

Asher Cohen, Jonathan Koschitzky, Eran Rolls, Neil Kaye.


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With your support

Beit Hillel can continueits important work.

Beit Hillel welcomes youto become a partner in shaping the

future of Israeli Society.

Contact usforDonations or Information:

Beit Hillel - Attentive Spiritual

Leadership (NPO # 58-0559441)

Rav Ronen Neuwirth

Executive Director

+972-52-771-0121

47 Akiva St. Raanana 43261 Israel

[email protected]

[email protected]

www.beithillel.org.il

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