Memorial Evening 2011

5771/2011 Memorial Evening
marking the 16th Yahrzeit of Etta Ehrman Kossowsky z.l.

On the 16th Yahrzeit of Etta z.l. bat moreinu haRav Zvi Ehrman, some fifty people came to spend an evening learning in Etta's name and to recall their fond memories of her.

 

Introduction by Esther Ehrman

 

Professor Ellen Spolsky: 'Moshe's Pursuit of Justice; a cognitive-cultural experience'

 

Eli Ehrman: 'All your works shall give thanks unto You, O Lord and your chassidim shall bless you'

 

Earlier, in the afternoon, one of the Etta Kossowsky Study groups in Bet Shemesh had listened to a special shiur given by Penina Schapira on dina de malchuuta dina, a fascinating account of how Jewish law had respected and, on occasion, incorporated 'the law of the land' and raising the question of the implications in present day Israel - a subject Etta would certainly have had something to say about.

In the evening, the Guest Speaker was Professor Ellen Spolsky of Bar Ilan University. Etta's mother, Esther Ehrman welcomed the great loyalty to Etta of all who had come, noting the importance of friends and friendship in Etta's life. Esther gave a brief account of the learning in Etta's name and the financial state of the Etta Kossowsky Fund before welcoming Professor Spolsky.

The very concept of lawfulness was at the core of the important lecture given by professor Ellen Spolsky, 'Moshe's Pursuit of Justice; a cognitive-cultural experience'. Again, we wished Etta had been there. Professor Spolsky spoke about the need for physical balance essential to human beings and the parallel balance that law provides to redress the imbalance of injustice. Moshe gave expression to this redressing of imbalance in killing the Egyptian slave-driver. He was doing this, not yet in obedience to law; there was no law; he was acting, with his body, as an 'outlaw'. To learn about the moral balance needed for the life of society, the Israelites had to leave Egypt and be shown the ways of lawfulness and justice. The innate sense of what is just, expressed physically by Moshe was now replaced by the word.

The subject of Eli's devar torah was the verse 'All your works shall give thanks unto You, O Lord and your chassidim shall bless you' from the Ashrei prayer (Ps.114). Eli reflected on our understanding of what is 'good'; are things good because G-d said so or are things intrinsically good and therefore G-d taught this to us. Eli described the chassid as one who seeks the well being of others. Since the Almighty unquestionably seeks the well-being of the world, chassidim bless Him, that is, declare their acknowledgement of this. Etta could clearly be numbered among those seeking the well-being of others.

As usual, the evening ended with time for everyone to meet and talk.

Memorial Evening 2010

5770/2010 Memorial Evening
marking the 15th Yahrzeit of Etta Ehrman Kossowsky z.l.

The Memorial Evening marking the 15th Yahrzeit of Etta Ehrman Kossowsky z.l. was held on 6 February 2010 in Bet Shemesh. Etta's family and friends, some forty people, came from far and near to remember her and learn in her name.

As in previous years, a guest speaker was invited. Aliza Segal is a distinguished educationist as well as a yoetzet halacha, one of the few women recognised by the Rabbinate as qualified to advise women with halacha-related problems. Aliza spoke about women's halachic obligations in "The Making of History and Community".

Eli Ehrman gave a devar Torah on our ability to reverse the curses of Gan Eden: Geula and the Three Curses in Gan Eden.

 

Introduction by Esther Ehrman

 

Aliza Segal: The Making of History and Community

 

The following is a short summary of Aliza Segal's talk, written by Aliza.

Af hen hayu be'oto hanes: The Making of History and Community

In three different places in the Gemara, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi uses the same principle to obligate women in particular mitzvot. The mitzvot in question are: reading the Megillah on Purim; drinking four cups of wine at the Pesach Seder; and lighting Chanukah candles. These mitzvot have two important things in common: they are all positive, time-bound commandments, from which women are generally exempt, and they are all derabbanan/Rabbinic obligations.

The principle articulated by Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi is "af hen hayu be'oto hanes / even they were in that miracle." There is a disagreement among Rishonim as to the meaning of this principle. The position that appears in Rashi in two of the places, and is attributed to Rashbam as well in the Tosafot, maintains that the miracles associated with these three holidays were in some way brought about by women (Esther on Purim, Judith on Chanukah, and all of the "righteous women" in Egypt). "Af hen" indicates a female protagonist, in whose commemoration women of subsequent generations are obligated in the mitzvot. The position attributed to Rabbenu Tam disagrees on textual grounds. First, the terminology "af / even" implies inclusion, but not primary involvement, and second, the Palestinian Talmud features the phrase "oto safek / the same danger," and not "nes / miracle." Rather, Rabbenu Tam's opinion maintains that the women were equally endangered, and therefore the salvation applied equally to them, and so they are equally obligated in the mitzvot.

In the Etta Ehrman Kossowsky Yahrzeit Lecture, we focused on three arenas upon which the interpretive argument surrounding af hen hayu be'oto hanes may impact. The first is a look to the past. What do the halakhic positions reflect about how we read our history? What narrative is constructed, and what does this say about the position of women in Jewish history? On the one hand, we tend to value active over passive participation in historical events, and the notion of a female protagonist indeed sounds appealingly heroic. Our history is short on women featured prominently in leadership positions, and opportunities to focus upon such women perhaps should be maximized. On the other hand, if we require truly heroic women in order to be inclusive of women, then women are written out of more than into history. Rabbenu Tam's view then seems to be the more inclusive, the one that views women as part of the national history not by dint of outstanding actions, but by dint of sharing in the national destiny.

The second arena of impact is that of halakhah. If af hen is restricted to miracles involving a female protagonist, its application beyond the three particular cases is indeed limited. (The creation and application of such a principle may also be related, we have suggested, to Rashi's position regarding the rules governing mitzvot miderabbanan.) If, however, af hen may be applied to mitzvot commemorating any event in which women were also involved, perhaps there are other mitzvot that are implicitly affected by this principle. Tosafot (in the position that later Rishonim associate with Rabbenu Tam) restrict the application of the principle to mitzvot miderabbanan. One possible application would be the obligation of women in the third Shabbat meal, commemorating the miracle of the manna in the desert. Others would disagree, restricting the principle's application further to the specific types of situations represented in the Purim, Pesach and Chanukah stories: the Jews are in clear and present danger, and/or the mitzvah is one of pirsum hanes / publicizing the miracle.

The third arena that we considered in discussing the af hen principle is that of the present with a look towards the future. What is our construction of community? To what degree do we seek to be inclusive? Being counted among the mitzvah-observers is, within the halakhic system, a means of being counted. While women are not literally counted, as in for a minyan / quorum, we can seek ways of having people "count" as part of the community. Exceptional and heroic actions, akin to those undertaken by Rashbam's female protagonists, need not be the entry requirement into the community. Rather, it should be sufficient to share the fate, or the way of life, of that community, as in Rabbenu Tam's model. In seeking balance between the viewpoints represented by these positions, perhaps the individual can strive for whichever greatness in service he or she can achieve, while the community includes all by the mere fact of their belonging.

Memorial Evening 2009

5769/2009 Memorial Evening
marking the 14th Yahrzeit of Etta Ehrman Kossowsky z.l.

Wind and rain and thunder did not keep Etta’s friends away and a highly interesting Evening of Torah Learning was shared by over forty-five people. They came to remember Etta, they came to learn.

 

Devar Torah by Michi Kossowsky

 

Dr Rachel Adelman: Elijah, the Wandering Jew

 

Eli Ehrman: The Divine Gardener

 

Michi Kossowsky opened the proceedings with a devar Torah on the Meraglim, the spies and their very negative report on the land that the Children of Israel were about to enter. How could these men, who had witnessed the Divine protection, entertain such doubts? Did they fear a future without Divine protection? Did they worry that they would still need that help to conquer the land? Michi likened our generation to that of the Meraglim. We, too, have questions about the Land that we are re-entering, its challenges and level of spirituality. We should, Michi suggested, take on board the message of Caleb, -alo, na’alei, let us go up now. Etta, a passionate Zionist, would have agreed.

The guest speaker was Dr Rachel Adelman. Her topic was ‘Elijah, the Wandering Jew’. Dr Adelman took us on a fascinating journey, showing how the figure of Elijah was transformed from the judgemental zealot of the Tenach to the harbinger of the Redemption, the figure we welcome at the Seder and at every Brit Mila. Was Elijah the figure in a non-Jewish source, cursed to wander the earth, as was Cain? In the Book of Kings G-d rebukes Elijah, jealous for G-d, for his judgemental stand and sends him to Damascus to appoint a prophet to replace him. Elijah is rejected, fired by G-d, says the Midrash. Pirkei de R.Eliezer identifies Elijah with Pinchas, who is also ‘jealous’ on behalf of G-d and kills the sexual sinners in the camp. Pinchas is rewarded by G-d with the ‘brit shalom.’, a covenant of peace and with the Priesthood. He will ultimately bring peace between parents and children and witness our Repentance that needs to precede the Redemption. In the Midrash, Elijah is identified as the ‘malach ha brit’, G-d’s Covenant Messenger, and brit is identified with brit mila, circumcision. He returns to bear witness to the Covenant being kept by the people of Israel. Elijah is then identified with the Jewish people and they are certainly not the accursed wanderers, since there is Zion, a G-d given homeland, a homeland very dear to Etta, as we know.

Eli Ehrman held the audience with an original suggestion that we should change our view of G-d as the Great Engineer and Designer to one of a Divine Cosmic Gardener. The cosmic Gardener creates and guides in response to a course of events determined by the laws of nature (that He created and respects). Eli explained the Divine guidance by showing how random events can be ‘guided’. His basic example was one where one thousand coins can be flipped and a desirable outcome can be achieved by excluding at each throw those coins that were already ‘positive’. The engineer would expect no surprises. The Gardener would. G-d shows us His goals in the Torah, but again and again ‘responds’ to our actions and prayers to change the course of history. Eli saw the death of his sister Etta, not as part of a plan, but due to the fact of illnesses that we are not yet sufficiently skilled to overcome. You can read Eli's article on this subject here: The Divine Gardener

The evening ended, as always, with refreshments, when people could discuss the ideas presented and speak about Etta,z.l.