Hakirah: The Flatbush Journal of Jewish Law and Thought

The 25th edition of Hakirah marks another milestone for a journal that was begun in 2004 with the mission of “promoting the intellectual and spiritual growth of the Flatbush Jewish community.” Hakirah has far exceeded its goals, and by volume three the mission had been changed from the “Flatbush Jewish community” to the “Jewish community” as Orthodox scholars and even some non-orthodox scholars from around the world joined us in our mission. Hakirah sought to accomplish its goal by “providing an opportunity for members of our community who have been studying in depth to disseminate the results of their study for careful review” and “encouraging others to join in this type of study.” Dozens of new authors have found their voice in the pages of Hakirah, but they have been joined by established authors, prominent talmidei hakhamim and noted academics in Jewish studies, as well as accomplished scientists and scholars of the law and the humanities. We stated in our mission statement that we wished to “create a forum for the discussion of issues of hashkafah and halakhah relevant to the community from a perspective of careful analysis of the primary Torah sources,” and indeed the most crucial and controversial issues facing Jewry have been discussed in these pages. The “Torah and Science” controversy of 2004, the proper procedures for gerut, the prospect of women rabbis, the Torah attitude towards homosexuality, Orthodoxy’s stance and responsibility toward the state of Israel, and Judaism’s stance in the divide between liberalism and conservatism, as well as many other issues, have all been debated here. And in this tradition, the Forum section of this edition deals with whether the issue of humane treatment for animals is a matter of moral concern for religious Jews or just an overhyped part of the political correctness agenda of the “progressive” left... A fitting close to the introduction to this edition of Hakirah is the acknowledgment of the loss this past Av of Flatbush resident Dr. Yaakov Elman z”l. Reb Yaakov was an internationally renowned academic scholar as well as an exceptional talmid hakham who made major contributions in several different areas of Jewish scholarship. The titles of his two Hakirah articles, “Rava as Mara de-Atra in Mahoza,” and “Pahad Yitzhak: A Joyful Song of Affirmation,” give one an idea about the range of his expertise. He was a ben Torah and ba‘al middot who was a friend to several members of the Hakirah editorial board, whom we learned with and from, and he was a friend to Hakirah itself with whom we would consult on areas beyond our expertise. In a letter in Hakirah 2, responding to our initial edition, he ended with: “I wish you all the luck in the world in cultivating intellectual curiosity in Flatbush and among frum people in general. Decades of experience have shown me how difficult a task that is. Good luck!” We would often laugh together about this, as apparently his “good luck” berakhah was fulfilled. Sometime later he told us that “Hakirah gave him hope,” and shortly after that he began contributing himself. Dr. Elman left many unfinished works, and it is our prayer that the topics over which he toiled will be continued to be explored in the pages of Hakirah.