5774 — Beha’alotcha: To include or exclude?

Introduction

Rabbi Elisha Ancselovits discusses parsha Beha’alotcha. How does the Torah balance having a set date for the Passover celebration of the Exodus so that it can feel like a holiday, with the needs of those mourners who have just buried their dead to celebrate after their mourning ends? A Biblical example of Halakhic style thinking, which seeks to address all concerns instead of simplistically choosing one need or value over another need or value – which seeks to include competing human needs instead of excluding some.

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Credits
Larry Kluger – Creative Consultant
Arlene Harel, David Bogomolny – Production Coordinators
Dr. David Bernstein – Executive Producer

Elisha S. Ancselovits

Rabbi Dr. Elisha S. Ancselovits teaches Halakha as Practical Philosophy at Pardes and at Yeshivat Maale Gilboa, and has taught at a range of Orthodox, secular, Israeli and European institutions. He holds rabbinic and judicial ordination (Yoreh Yoreh and Yadin Yadin), a Ph.D. in the history of Jewish law, and an M.A. in Modern Jewish Studies, in addition to graduate studies in Medieval Jewish History.

Elisha has served as a researcher and lecturer in Jewish studies and legal theory at universities across several continents, and is currently a fellow at Emory University’s Center for the Study of Law and Religion. His teaching spans halakha, Biblical and Second Temple law, critical Talmud, critical Zohar, and modern philosophy. Elisha founded Bet Midrash Hukkim Hakhamim, a kollel program mentoring women and men who are emerging rabbis and dayanim.