Gil Student

Infobox Person
name = Gil Student


image_size = 200px
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1972|8|8
birth_place =
occupation = Finance, Rabbi, Publisher, Blogger
religion = Modern Orthodox Judaism

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

Biography

In his youth, Gil Student attended a Conservative Jewish synagogue. [Citation
last=Student
first=Gil
title=Meaning in the Kitzur
publisher=Hirhurim Musings
year=2005
date=October 31, 2005
url=http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/2005_10_01_archive.html] He credits his attendance of an Orthodox Jewish high school for his now being "better off". [Citation
last=Student
first=Gil
title= Schechter in Teaneck
publisher=Hirhurim Musings
year=2007
date=May 16, 2007
url=http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html] He is an alumnus of Solomon Schechter elementary school and Frisch School, [Citation
last=Engelmayer
first=Shammai
title=A dream come true
newspaper=The Jewish Standard
year=2007
date=October 26, 2007
url=http://www.jstandard.com/articles/3375/1/A-dream-come-true] and a "baal teshuva".cite web
url= http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/2005/12/thank-god-for-modern-orthodox-world.html
title= Thank God for the Modern Orthodox World
accessdate= 2008-01-23
last= Student
first= Gil
date= December 7, 2007
publisher= Hirhurim - Musings] A 1994 graduate of Yeshiva College, Yeshiva University, Gil Student is listed in the 2005 alumni directory [cite book
title=Yeshiva University Alumni Directory
publisher=Harris Publishing Company
year=2005
pages=802] as a rabbi and a quantitative analyst who works in financial reinsurance and lives in the Marine Park section of Brooklyn, New York and is a member of the "Kehilas Marine Park" synagogue, led by Rabbi Baruch Pesach Mendelson.

Writing, blogging and publishing

Student's writings appear mainly on the Internet on his blog, "Hirhurim Musings". [cite web
last=Student
first=Gil
title=Hirhurim Musings
publisher=Blogger
url=http://hirhurim.blogspot.com] They also appear in newspapers and journals on a variety of Judaic topics including Jewish medical ethics [Citation
last=Student
first=Gil
title=Medical Ethics and Jewish Politics
journal=The Jewish Press
date=February 21, 2007
year=2007
url=http://www.jewishpress.com/displayContent_new.cfm?contentid=20774&mode=a&contentname=Medical_Ethics_And_Jewish_Politics&recnum=3&sectionid=14 ] and Yeshiva University. [Citation
last=Student
first=Gil
title=Stories of Yeshiva College
journal=The Jewish Press
date=June 14, 2006
year=2006
url=http://www.jewishpress.com/displayContent_new.cfm?contentid=18489&mode=a&contentname=Stories_of_Yeshiva_College&recnum=5&sectionid=14 ]

The "Hirhurim" blog was ranked "Best Jewish Religion Blog" and #3 in categories "Best Series" and "Best Overall Blog" for 2005 by "The Jerusalem Post" [cite web
title=2005 Jewish & Israeli Blog Awards
publisher=Jerusalem Post
url =http://info.jpost.com/C005/BlogCentral/JIB.2005/] and has been cited in "The Wall Street Journal" for declining to run an ad for "Letter to a Christian Nation" by Sam Harris. He has received other recognition for his blogging and views by Yeshiva University's student newspapers "The Commentator" [Citation
last=Butler
first=Menachem
title=Opinion: American Jewish History at Yeshiva College
newspaper=The Commentator
year=2004
date=September 20, 2004
url=http://media.www.yucommentator.com/media/storage/paper652/news/2004/09/20/Yudaica/Opinion.American.Jewish.History.At.Yeshiva.College-714008.shtml] [Citation
last=Kastner
first=Eitan
title=Administration Denies Deletion of Torah U-Madda from Logo
newspaper=The Commentator
year=2005
date=October 11, 2005
url=http://media.www.yucommentator.com/media/storage/paper652/news/2005/10/11/News/Administration.Denies.Deletion.Of.Torah.UMadda.From.Logo-1006255-page2.shtml] and "The Observer". [Citation
last=Wiznitzer
first=Olivia
title=Rosh Hashana: The Soloveitchik Machzor
newspaper=The Commentator
year=2007
date=October 22, 2007
url=http://media.www.yuobserver.com/media/storage/paper989/news/2007/10/22/ArtsAndCulture/Rosh-Hashana.The.Soloveitchik.Machzor-3048933.shtml]

Student owns and operates a small Jewish publishing house, "Yashar Books", that, in addition to traditional 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. [cite news
last=Mindlin
first=Alex
title=Religion and Natural History Clash Among the Ultra-Orthodox
publisher=New York Times
date=March 22, 2005
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/22/science/22rabbi.html?_r=1&oref=slogin] [Citation
last=Weiss
first=Steven I.
title='Improved' Edition of Banned Book on Rabbis Released
journal=The Forward
date=September 30, 2005
year=2005
url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-117233601.html] 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." [Citation
last=Student
first=Gil
title=The Slifkin Torah-Science Controversy An admittedly biased insider's perspective
journal=The Jewish Press
date=August 16, 2006
year=2006
url=http://www.jewishpress.com/displayContent_new.cfm?mode=a&contentid=19169&%20contentName=The%20Slifkin%20Torah-Science%20Controversy%20%3Ci%3EAn%20admittedly%20biased%20insider's%20perspective%3C/i%3E ]

Defending the Talmud

Student has written defending the Talmud against those who claim that it defames gentiles or Jesus. On the Internet, one of Student's sites called "Talmud: The Real Truth About The Talmud" states its objective:

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. [cite web
last=Student
first=Gil
title=The Real Truth About The Talmud
url=http://talmud.faithweb.com]

Key areas discussed with relevant sources include:

*About the Talmud
*Alleged racism in the Talmud
*Talmud's view of Jesus' personalities.
*Jewish holidays
*Immorality in the Talmud

Position on Modern and Haredi Orthodoxy

Though his stance in the Slifkin controversy put him at odds with much of the Haredi world, Student nevertheless opposes many trends within Modern Orthodoxy, especially regarding women's issues (e.g. women's prayer groups), taking a particularly strong stance against the now-defunct Edah organization [cite web
last=Student
first=Gil
title=Women's Prayer Groups: R. Hershel Schachter's Position II
publisher=Hirhurim Musings
date=March 31, 2004
url=http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/2004_03_01_archive.html] ; and other groups.

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." [cite web
last=Student
first=Gil
title=In the Beginning
publisher=Hirhurim Musings
date=March 15, 2004
url=http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/2004/03/in-beginning.html]

Critique of Lubavitch views

He has written on Chabad messianism in opposition to the claim by some Chabad Hasidim that the last Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, may have been the long-awaited Jewish Messiah (i.e. the "Moshiach").cite book
last=Student
first=Gil
title=Can The Rebbe Be Moshiach
publisher=Universal Publishers
month=September | year=2002
isbn=978-1581126112 See http://moshiachtalk.tripod.com/] He has received both criticism and praise for his self-published book "Can The Rebbe Be Moshiach?" described as "Proofs from Gemara, Midrash, and Rambam that the Lubavitcher Rebbe cannot be Moshiach":

During his lifetime, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of blessed memory, was a highly successful religious leader. His brilliant scholarship and eloquent speaking touched hundreds of thousands of people. Larger than life and presiding in a post-Holocaust world during which Jews returned to the land of Israel in an unprecedented fashion, he was declared by many of his followers to be the Moshiach ("Messiah") for whom Jews have waited for thousands of years. His death in 1994 should have dashed those hopes. However, many of his followers have advanced the position that even today the Rebbe can still be Moshiach.

This book is an analysis of this position within the Jewish tradition. What do the doctrinally binding texts say about a dead man being Moshiach? In a presentation appropriate for both the layman and the experienced scholar, this work demonstrates from dozens of texts that according to the authentic Jewish tradition the Rebbe unfortunately cannot be Moshiach.

Attention on the Internet

Student is often cited by rabbis belonging to the Rabbinical Council of America, [ [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Arabbis.org+%22gil+student%22 Rabbinical Council of America] (5 mentions on the RCA's website, direct access to this requires a password.)] and eminent writers frequently respond to Student's writings and statements on their own websites and blogs. Richard John Neuhaus, responding to a blog post by Student on the New American Bible, writes:

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. [Citation
last=Neuhaus
first=Richard John
author-link=Richard John Neuhaus
title=At the 745am...
journal=First Things
date=December 29, 2005
year=2005
url=http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=133]

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 "Jerusalem Post", 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.'" [cite web
last=Phillips
first=Kevin
authorlink=Kevin Phillips
title=A Political Caution for Women: The National Republican Coalition and its Dependence on Patriarchal Religious Denominations
publisher=American Theocracy
url=http://www.americantheocracy.net/commentary.html]

Academy for Torah Initiatives and Directions describes "Hirhurim" as "the premiere blog of the Orthodox world, with Rabbi Gil Student's prolific writings and musings on halakhah and Jewish life." [ [http://www.atid.org/resources/judaic.asp Judaic Knowledge Resource Links] , "Academy for Torah Initiatives and Directions"]

ee also

*J-Blogosphere (Jewish blogging community)
*Religion and the Internet

References

External links

* [http://www.aishdas.org/student Rabbi Gil Student] Home page at AishDas.org
* [http://www.yasharbooks.com/ Yashar Books]
* [http://talmud.faithweb.com/ The Real Truth About the Talmud]
* [http://moshiachtalk.tripod.com/ Can the Rebbe be Moshiach?]
* [http://hirhurim.blogspot.com "Hirhurim Musings"] Gil Student's blog
* [http://www.casact.org/pubs/actrev/may01/leave.htm Why We Are Leaving] Opinion piece by Gil Student on why he was leaving the actuary profession