Gil Student

Gil Ofer Student (born August 8, 1972) is the Managing Editor of OU Press, and an Orthodox Jewish blogger who writes about the interface between different facets of Judaism, specifically Orthodox Judaism and Modern Orthodox Judaism, including modern, controversial topics. He is an ordained non-pulpit serving Orthodox rabbi.

Biography

Writing, blogging and publishing

The Hirhurim blog was ranked "Best Jewish Religion Blog" and #3 in categories "Best Series" and "Best Overall Blog" for 2005 in the JIBs competition'' and has been mentioned in The Wall Street Journal for declining to run an ad for "Letter to a Christian Nation" by Sam Harris. He has also been mentioned in Yeshiva University's student newspapers The Commentator and The Observer.

Student owns and operates a small Jewish publishing house, Yashar Books, that, in addition to Orthodox scholarly works, distributes the writings of Orthodox thinkers who defy the accepted norms of publications in the Haredi world; the latter include works that were previously distributed by prominent publishers such as Feldheim.

His publishing company has undertaken to distribute the works of Rabbi Natan Slifkin whose books were banned by many Haredi rabbis as well as other works that are not openly approved by the Haredi mainstream rabbinate. In explaining his defense of Slifkin and his willingness to publish Slifkin's books, Student wrote in The Jewish Press, "The Jewish community is no stranger to conflict. Some controversies, however, transcend their local concern and reverberate in ways originally unintended. I believe we have witnessed such an event with the recent controversy surrounding three books about Torah and science by Rabbi Natan (Nosson) Slifkin. The bans promulgated on his books have come to represent more than just disapproval of those specific works; they have come to signify the lack of centralized rabbinic authority in our globalized world and the increased empowerment of the individual afforded by the Internet."

Defending the Talmud

There are many lies circulating the internet about the Jewish Talmud. These allegations are supported by "direct quotations" from the Talmud that are frequently wrong or taken out of context. However, most people lack the scholarly background to verify these claims. Most people have no way of knowing that these accusation are false and malicious. What we are attempting is to demonstrate in detail how these accusations are both wrong and intentionally misleading. We are trying to show to the world the real truth about the Talmud.

Key areas discussed with relevant sources include:

Position on Modern and Haredi Orthodoxy

In his personal life, Student remains involved with both the Haredi and Modern Orthodox worlds in Brooklyn. According to Student, "I live in a moderate Haredi neighborhood, attend Haredi synagogues, send my children to moderate Haredi schools but still maintain professional and friendly relations with the Modern Orthodox world."

Critique of Lubavitch views

He has received both criticism and praise for his self-published book Can The Rebbe Be Moshiach? in September 2009, in response to a question if he can talk about his opinions on the Lubavitcher rebbe not being Moshiach, he replied,

I actually prefer not to. People get very offended by it. I wrote the book for ba'alei teshuvah to let them know that there's more than one perspective on the issue. I have no interest in fighting with Lubavitch.

Attention on the Internet

Over on a blog called Hirhurim Musings, a Torah scholar by the name of Gil Student takes on my critique of the Catholic translation known as the New American Bible (NAB) in the current issue of FIRST THINGS. He admits that he’s not familiar with the NAB and is, in fact, not much interested in English translations of the Bible, but, picking up on some of the examples I cite in my essay 'Bible Babel,' he comes to the defense of the NAB translators.

The publishers of American Theocracy, discussing the role of women in Judaism, write, "Rabbi Gil Student’s Hirhurim Musings, described as the Best Jewish Religion Blog of 2005 by the JIBs, had this to say on Dec. 31, 2004: 'It must be remembered that a substantial segment of the Orthodox community considers the advanced learning of the Torah by women to be forbidden.'"

See also

References

External links