The Rabbis’ Secret Discussions

This past Chanukah, Orot Israel College hosted the Online Rabbinical Forum’s first conference. Although this one-of-a-kind forum is less than a year old, over two hundred prominent rabbis have joined its ranks.

What makes this forum particularly unique is that not only is it web-based, but not just anyone can become a member. Each prospective candidate must serve – or have served in the past – as a community rabbi, a dayan, a rosh yeshiva, a ra”m in a yeshiva gevoha/yeshivat hesder, or the head of an equivalent institution. In addition, every member is required to sign a terms-of-use pledge, which states that members may not leak specific details of the forum’s online discussions. Furthermore, the members must commit to ensuring that the level of discourse is both topical and decorous. And astonishingly, although nine months have elapsed since the forum’s inception – a period which aptly corresponds to the yarchei leidah (months of pregnancy) – these terms have been rigidly upheld.

To date, the discussions have encompassed a wide range of halachic, philosophical, and practical topics – including questions about kashrut and the Mikdash, about daily life and financial issues, about personal concerns and public matters, about Israel and the Diaspora, and much more. Admittedly, several exchanges were somewhat heated, and at least once, a member apologized because he felt that his colleague may have been insulted. And yet, at no time did the tone veer from that which is considered to be acceptable in a beit midrash. Indeed, this is perhaps one of the forum’s greatest wonders: Namely, that it enables the members - who are geographically dispersed and are all busy with their own private affairs - to return to the beit midrash and share Torah ideas with their peers.

Most of the members had never met in person before the conference. In fact, it is safe to say that no one knew more than 10% of the membership. Thus, the conference served as an excellent opportunity for the members to meet each other in “the real world.” Fortunately, the conference’s organizers had prepared name tags, because otherwise, the attendees would have had difficulty recognizing their friends.

The conference program included four fascinating lectures. First, Professor Rav Neriah Gutel, President of Orot Israel College, spoke about the forum’s online discussions, their limitations, and their boundaries. Next, Rav Yaakov Ariel explored the fundamental ideals which must serve as the rabbis’ guiding principles, and Rav David Zenou, Rav of Moshav Shalva in the Negev, outlined the various roles and functions of a rabbi in a “peripheral” community. Finally, in a timely nod to Chanukah, Rav Shlomo Hecht used Google Earth to depict the Hasmonean wars.

Yet, the highlights of the conference – which was chaired by Rav Yoel Katan, one of the forum’s administrators - were the open discussions, which allowed the attendees to examine and debate assorted topics in both ideological-philosophical as well as technical-administrative terms. In addition, the members welcomed the chance to meet their erstwhile “virtual” friends in person. Thus, Rav Azariah Ariel appropriately chose to open the conference with a recitation of the Shehechiyanu blessing, which is said upon meeting a friend whom one has not seen in a very long time.

In short, the conference demonstrated that the most amazing thing about this lively, active, and semi-underground forum is that it has remained a secret - even in the media age. This – in and of itself - is both noteworthy and extremely refreshing.