Et Lidrosh ["A Time to Interpret"]

The youth forum of Ne'emanei Torah vaAvodah initiated the publication of a weekly leaflet, Et Lidrosh, to serve as a platform for a broad range of opinions, a religious "meta-discussion", conducted by means of a weekly commentary on the Torah. This leaflet is intended to serve as an alternative to the leaflets distributed in Israeli synagogues which reflect and reinforce uniform opinions within the orthodox community. Most of these speak in a single voice that interprets politically controversial issues within a limited religious framework. In most cases, Halachic conservatism is the only position taken.

 In Et Lidrosh, the issues raised are those of particular concern to the young people who write and read the leaflet and who struggle to build a bridge between the religious and the modern worlds. To date, the leaflet has included articles by well-known rabbis and public figures such as Yuval Cherlow and Yehuda Gilad, alongside interviews with eminent academics such as Prof. Aviezer Ravitzky, with journalist Ilana Dayan, and musician Ehud Banai. By varying the content of the publication, its editors attempt to foster tolerance for different points of view.

In this way, Et Lidrosh advances a pluralistic discourse among the religious community in Israel and presents a worldview that emphasizes democratic values and their place within Jewish thoughtOnce a month 50,000 copies of Et Lidrosh are printed and distributed in synagogues throughout Israel. They are also sent e-mail to about 1,000 subscribers. The production cost for each leaflet is $2,000, amounting to a total annual budget of $24,000. Funding is provided with generous support from the Poppers Prins Foundation together with revenue from other contributors and from advertisements.

Since Eit l'Drosh began circulating in synagogues throughout the country, we have received much positive feedback. Many readers have sent letters and e-mails or have called our offices to respond to the various issues raised in the publication. Because this Shabbat leaflet has been so successful, we hope to publish it on a weekly basis. To prepare and distribute a weekly publication of this kind, an additional $80,000 is required.