Is Passion Still in Fashion?

From left: Rabbis Ysoscher Katz, Nathaniel Helfgot and Jason Herman

The Stanton Street Synagogue hosted last month a Shabbaton with Scholar in Residence Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot who chairs the departments of Bible and Jewish Thought at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah ... YCT’s mission is to send hundreds of its rabbinic graduates out into the Orthodox world, to imbue it with its values of egalitarianism and social justice as prescribed by Jewish Law, as well as a voracious curiosity about the culture at large.

A gifted teacher and stirring speaker, Helfgot represents the new generation of Modern Orthodox rabbis, who see their mission not in acquiescing to the needs of a religious Jewish person living in the modern culture, but in embracing the culture as a carnival packed with opportunities for spiritual growth.